In March 2010, a massive flood pounded the Darlington Fabrics manufacturing facility on the banks of the Pawcatuck River in Westerly. The facility is owned by The Moore Co., a family-run business is in its fourth generation. George C. Moore started his elastics company in 1909 in Worcester, Mass. The company has been guided by Moores ever since.
But it was saved two years ago – by another company, from another industry – in its time of need.
“The whole thing was a surreal experience. To see 4 feet of water running through the river side of the building was just unbelievable,” said The Moore Co. CEO Dana Barlow. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.”
Conditions for a natural catastrophe were ripe leading up to the flood. There was a lot of snow melting all over the state. The March rains came on strong. Although the company’s flood-prevention group monitors the river daily, the flood came on fast.
“As the river was rising we were sandbagging, but quickly we realized we were not going to get ahead of it, so we started evacuating,” Barlow said. “We tried to move some product out of the building, but it was too fast. Every family in this town has had a family member work here, and there is a lot of history and culture that we are trying to preserve. As the floods hit, we were extremely worried about whether the facility could rebound and start making fabric again.”
At the Darlington Fabrics facility, the company brings in greige goods – big, knitted rolls of fabric – to prepare and dye them. Once complete the rolls are sent to another facility across town for finishing and shipping. This day-to-day operation seemed impossible in the wake of Rhode Island’s historic flooding. As with other businesses and homeowners across the state, The Moore Company was about to realize the importance of having a good insurance company.
“We contacted our insurance carrier, FM Global, the day after the flood. Within 24 hours, FM Global sent Branch Claims Manager Greg Twomey to our facility to assess the damage. He sat down with us to help craft a recovery plan. From that point on, he was here every day for weeks,” Barlow said.
“Watching all of the water pour into our facility, and knowing the machines were submerged, we wondered if the plant would ever operate again,” Barlow said. “The questions we were asking all focused on how long would we be down, and what would be the ultimate effect on our company? This was a terrible situation, but FM Global made us feel more comfortable.”
While Barlow’s team worried about the company’s survival, FM Global never had a doubt.
“We sent a team to Westerly the day after the flood hit, and immediately began to help The Moore Co. identify ways to prevent further damage from the flooding,” said Steven Zenofsky, FM Global manager of public relations.
“Our teams work in partnership with our clients to identify damage, develop a scope of work for repairs and identify critical paths to helping them get back on track,” he said. “From the first moment, we knew The Moore Co. would be back in business, it was only a matter of when.
“From our perspective, this is business as usual,” Zenofsky said. “Because we are a mutual company owned by our clients and who partners with them, our engineering teams know their facilities inside and out and they know what needs to be done to help the client to recover quickly. We make recommendations and allow our clients the flexibility to make their own informed decisions. “
Since the flooding had slammed much of Rhode Island, available local contractors and cleanup specialists were hard to find. FM Global found contractors in Chicago and St. Louis who agreed to partner with The Moore Co. to repair the equipment and help clean up the mess. It was a team effort, as one company helped remove damaged product, a second team was working on drying, rewiring and replacing the motors on the equipment so the company could get back up and running.
The business was restarted within two months and fully operational within three months.
“It’s pretty amazing, actually. Every day during this process we had a group meeting with FM Global and our contractors to discuss where we were and what our game plan was,” Barlow said. “We were really concerned about the future of our company, and the hard work done by generations of families in this area that have ties to our business. FM Global reassured us that … they had the right resources to help us recover.”
That included getting the contractors paid in a timely manner. The insurance company pitched in and made the funds available immediately. There was also worry over getting the right replacement parts for some of the specialized equipment, much of which was thought to be irreplaceable.
“Once again, FM Global stepped in and put us in touch with the right contractors to get the machinery fixed.”
The lesson, from FM Global’s perspective, is that “the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,” Zenofsky said. “While in this case, the flooding left damage, the Moore Company was able to quickly recover.
“Our claims people prepare our clients for the unexpected, and work to mitigate loss and restore business operations quickly if a loss event occurs,” he said. •
