In the fall of 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with the resulting floods, caused unprecedented devastation across communities in western North Carolina and other states in the storms’ path, leaving many without water, food, power, and other basic necessities. In the wake of the storms, Camping World and our supporting dealerships distributed invaluable supplies, equipment, and assistance to affected areas. The dealerships in Asheville and Marion, NC, were particularly involved, with the Marion Campground even serving as a basecamp for search and rescue operations for the Army Reserves.
Camping World has long provided assistance following natural disasters, leveraging our extensive national network, outdoor supplies inventory, and willing volunteers. This fall, upwards of 6,000 generators were made available to the impacted areas, totaling around 1,000 pallets when combined with other supplies. Countless volunteers provided critical relief and demonstrated our ongoing commitment to partner communities in times of crisis.
When disaster strikes, Camping World helps—and quickly. However, a strategic, coordinated response like the one we saw with the hurricanes is only possible through the efforts of a dedicated team and a framework that, in this case, we put into place long before the storms struck. Camping World’s unofficial Weather Response team took steps before, during, and after the storm to ensure many who were most affected received the supplies and help they needed.
Weather Response
Alex Wagner is the Director of Visual Merchandising at Camping World, a role that uniquely sees her interact and collaborate with different leaders and departments. Her involvement came about organically, initially working with stores to monitor tornados and provide generators. But what started as a relatively localized effort grew into a wider emergency response group involving multiple departments and teams.
Alex now helps facilitate this Weather Response group that monitors, tracks, prepares for, and responds to weather events and natural disasters. In collaboration with inventory, transportation, sales and service personnel, company leadership, and several other critical players, they can quickly provide a remarkable degree of assistance and communication when disasters strike. That’s what happened in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and several other locations last fall.
“We had some stores that had three or four drops a day of trucks full of generators,” Alex said. “People were lined up around the building. It was amazing to see everyone pulling together from our planning side all the way down to the people in the field.”
To many, Camping World’s assistance in North Carolina and the surrounding areas was a matter of chance, having people and supplies ready to help when it mattered. For Alex, it was a matter of preparation—proof that their response efforts worked as intended.
Storm Hubs
Long before storms hit, Alex and the Weather Response group have already stocked emergency supplies and equipment at designated locations where they can easily be accessed and distributed. Dubbed “Storm Hubs,” these locations in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and now South Carolina house additional generators and other supplies and equipment to be distributed quickly in the event of an emergency. These locations stock standard products that would be helpful in any emergency—generators, electrical cords, water—as well as event-specific items for tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and others.
Instead of allocating supplies from a Distribution Center that might take days to arrive, there’s a shorter transit time from the Storm Hub to stores that may be affected. Alex and her team coordinate the most effective deliveries to save time and get supplies where they are needed most.
“When we identify that [a hurricane] is coming, Inventory will do their due diligence making sure we have product in the stores and at the closest hubs,” Alex said. “We work very closely with the field team to understand what stores will be impacted, what supplies are needed, and then coordinate with the transportation team, who work countless hours to ensure the product is received and the drivers are safe.”
During Helene, Alex held a daily check-in, during which she covered the day’s logistics, including truck departures and arrivals, what equipment was being delivered, store closures, risk assessments, damage reports, and other updates. This kept all parties up-to-speed and maximized their effectiveness. In addition, she worked with the Camping World social media team to notify residents that our stores were open.
Their efforts were massively effective, and Alex, her team, and all involved were able to showcase Camping World at its best amidst an exceptional national crisis.
Response Stories
Ask Alex and others involved, and there are near-endless anecdotes of those who went above and beyond what was expected to help during and after Helene and Milton.
There’s the story of a Camping World associate from Grand Rapids, Michigan who had not heard from his parents in Florida following the storm and communication outage. He reached the store in Bartow, Florida, and an especially helpful Camping World employee hopped in her car, drove to his parents’ house in town, and put him on the phone with his mom. Or Stacy Brewer in Augusta, Georgia, who, despite experiencing a power outage at her own home, went to her dealership and began assisting customers who needed to buy generators and supplies—even as the store was without power. In the following days, Stacy established a food bank for the entire dealership, ensuring all the employees had food and were cared for.
Or the law enforcement officers who were able to use the dealerships’ facilities to shower. The Asheville store that became a donation center to provide free supplies to victims. Or the stores that operated their POS through a generator and used flashlights to navigate their inventory.
“So many good things came out of that experience, from that community outreach,” Alex said. “It was like none other.” The response to Helene and Milton marked one of the largest coordinated weather responses in our company’s history.
Beyond Helene
As wildfires threatened neighborhoods and businesses in Los Angeles this January, Alex and the Camping World team were already working on providing assistance, securing and shipping additional bedding and bath products, and ensuring stores had necessary equipment on hand. Regardless of the emergency, their goal remains the same: to provide proactive assistance wherever needed.
Alex and the Weather Response team use lessons learned from previous weather events to better prepare for what’s ahead. For example, she cited Merchandising Inventory Manager Dan Froheling, who looks at historical sales data from previous storms—as far back as Hurricane Katrina—to determine what quantities of products they should have on hand for given situations. In addition, Alex hinted at talks of a mobile aid station—a semi-truck stocked with emergency supplies to reach affected areas.
What’s clear is that Camping World has many individuals like Alex who are dedicated to providing exceptional help when others need it most. Their efforts to continually enhance response times and effectiveness means even more people can be helped in future disasters. This work is done outside of their daily responsibilities to the business, and it reflects an uncommon level of integrity.
“I think it speaks volumes,” Alex said. “It shows that we’re all one team. In a time of need, everyone pulled together—there were so many different groups involved. I don’t know if we can always say that about the different things we do, but this was truly cross-functional from a company standpoint. It wasn’t just dealerships or just service, it was all of the entities coming together.”
So, a heartfelt thank-you goes out to all the team members and volunteers who offered their time and resources to help make such an important effort in response to the hurricanes! Your efforts helped many while demonstrating the grit and kindness of Camping World people.
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