Springdale's Tyson Foods providing disaster relief

File photo. A sign marks the E. Walnut St. truck entrance on Friday Aug. 7, 2015 at the Tyson Foods facility in downtown Rogers.
File photo. A sign marks the E. Walnut St. truck entrance on Friday Aug. 7, 2015 at the Tyson Foods facility in downtown Rogers.

SPRINGDALE -- Tyson Foods continues to take food to Houston area flood victims and is on the lookout for any relief needs as Hurricane Irma approaches Florida.

"We're closely monitoring Irma and its potential impact," Derek Burleson, Tyson's public relations manager, said Friday. "Our natural disaster preparedness team is following established protocol and will deploy resources as needed. It's difficult to make a decision on disaster relief deployment until we know where the need is and the impact to our team members."

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Florida residents and tourists faced gasoline shortages and gridlock on inland highways as a half-million people in Miami-Dade County were ordered to clear out, according to The Associated Press. Hurricane Irma could hit south Florida by Sunday morning.

Tyson has been a presence in the Houston area in the wake of catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Tyson's Meals that Matter disaster relief teams has provided meals for eight days as of Friday, Burleson said.

"Through Thursday, we had cooked and provided nearly 400,000 meals to food victims, volunteers, military and first responders," Burleson said. "That includes hot, handheld items such as hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches, as well as bulk frozen items that churches and other nonprofits are cooking themselves."

Tyson is averaging 20 onsite volunteers a day, with volunteers from five states rotating in and out of the Houston area relief effort.

Cook sites are at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Conroe, Texas, and the Christian Tabernacle Church in Houston, Burleson said. Conroe is about 40 miles north of Houston on Interstate 45.

Tyson has trailers stationed at the fairgrounds to cook breakfast and lunch for volunteers and area residents, and to prepare hot lunches delivered to volunteers who work in areas affected by the flood, said Cynthia Jamieson with the Montgomery County office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

An animal shelter has been set up at the fairgrounds to take in domestic animals and larger animals such as horses rescued from flooded areas. Tyson also provides food to animal shelter volunteers, Jamieson said.

"It's a very large contribution because it keeps the volunteers from having to bring their lunch," Jamieson said. "Anybody that comes by where (Tyson trailers) are parked, Tyson will feed them."

Tyson also has a prepared foods plant in Houston that produces deli meat and provides free ice, bottled water and food to Tyson personnel at the location, Burleson said.

NW News on 09/09/2017

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