~~ By John Demeter 

Most of you are aware of the record setting hurricane that made landfall in central New Jersey on Monday night, October 29, 2012. For those of us working out of Wesco's headquarters in Metuchen, last week began as a week we all sensed was going to be, let's say, somewhat different. When dawn broke on Tuesday, and we begin to survey the damages in our neighborhoods, it became clear that Hurricane Sandy was no lady.

We closed the offices on Monday, in anticipation of the storm hitting during the day and the possibility of a dangerous commute home. Late Monday afternoon, the storm roared ashore and for the next ten hours left a path of destruction across the state of NJ (and including many parts of New York too) that will take years to repair. New Jersey's Governor Chris Christi said on Wednesday, "Between Asbury Park and Long Beach Island, there is no beach!" For those of you unfamiliar with New Jersey's geography, that's a stretch of beachfront about 50 miles long and accounts for an enormous part of the state's economy. Most beachfront homes, including those several blocks inland, have been destroyed. A highway, several blocks inland from the ocean, is covered with over a foot of sand. It's not a pretty sight.

Wesco's offices remained closed on Tuesday. Like most of our neighbors, we were without power, cable, phone and internet. On Wednesday, the office staff assembled as we tried to get our systems up and running with back-up generators. While much of that plan worked, we remained without heat, cable, and hence, without email and phone service. So our sales team, led by Shannon Esopenko operating out of our Dallas office, forwarded their calls to cell phones, took home customer lists and phone numbers and worked for the next three days out of their homes - most without heat and power. This meant cell phones had to be recharged while sitting in idling cars and trying to get warm. Calls coming into Wesco's main phone line were forwarded to Shannon, who would either handle the calls herself or forward them to the appropriate sales person.

On Friday, with several emergency orders that needed to ship, our production crews arrived, and working on back-up generator power, managed to fulfill and ship every order.

Power was restored last Saturday, and thanks to our Operations VP Dan Dempsey, our systems were all up and running on Sunday. By Monday, we were back to full compliment.

New Jersey and the rest of the New York metropolitan area will be sorting through the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy for years to come. I just wanted to take a moment and give recognition to the Wesco staff, both here in Metuchen, as well as in Dallas and Phoenix for their hard work and dedication through this period. And to thank all of our customers and suppliers who wrote and called expressing their concern for us - we really appreciate it!