The recovery from Hurricane Florence continues at Black’s Tire Service Inc. after almost one-third of the company’s operations were affected by the storm. Nine stores suffered a direct hit.
Vice President Rick Benton says all of the company’s employees are safe, but many are displaced from their homes. He expects conditions to improve greatly this week in the areas that experienced the most flooding.
Black’s Tire wholesale division, BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors, is serving its wholesale customers but detours around flooded roads and bridges are delaying deliveries.
Power was restored at the company’s headquarters in Whiteville, N.C., six days after the hurricane made landfall on Sept. 14 in Wilmington, N.C. Generators powered the company’s headquarters for nearly a week.
The company sheltered many displaced employees at its headquarters and other locations, including the home of company president Ricky Benton.
Seven of the company’s stores were at the epicenter of the disaster. There are four Black’s Tire stores in Wilmington, where the storm crossed onto shore.
The company operates three stores in Lumberton, one of the areas hardest hit by flooding. The store in the northern part of Lumberton flooded for the first time ever. The outlet appeared in the Weather Channel’s coverage of the hurricane. The stormed dumped a record 35.93 inches of rain on North Carolina.
Black’s Tires operates 46 combination commercial/retail outlets throughout North Carolina and South Carolina.
