Edwards Garment (PPAI 198530, Platinum) – ranked the No. 20 supplier in the inaugural PPAI 100 – has reported that its business may be impacted following a series of tornadoes that devastated parts of Michigan, including a FedEx facility in Portage that manages the Kalamazoo-based company’s outbound shipments.
- As many as 50 people trapped inside the partially collapsed FedEx building were rescued Tuesday night, The Weather Channel reported.
“Our thoughts are with those affected by the tornado in Portage, Michigan, and we’re grateful there were no serious injuries resulting from the damage to our facility at 6701 Portage Road,” FedEx told FOX News in a statement. “We continue to assess the damage, and we’re implementing contingency plans to lessen any potential impacts on service. Customers with questions about their shipments can check fedex.com for updates.”
More images of damage are coming in from Portage, MI where a confirmed tornado hit on Tuesday afternoon. The city is a suburb of Kalamazoo in the SW part of the state pic.twitter.com/v0f9mWCDoG
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) May 8, 2024
Contingency Plan
Brian Deissroth, director of national accounts at Edwards, says employees at its distribution center followed safety procedures and went into shelter. Multiple homes and commercial properties were damaged, including some belonging to associates, their friends and their family.
“Although our building lost power, all areas are running on our generator, and we expect to continue operating on a normal basis while the power gets restored,” Deissroth says.
Edwards has been in contact with FedEx, which plans to use backup facilities in Grand Rapids and/or Fort Wayne to handle Edwards’ volume starting on Wednesday, May 8, Deissroth says.
“Currently, we only foresee a one-time, one-day delay in shipments,” Jose Gomez, president and CEO of Edwards, said in an email to customers.
As of about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, there were no reports of deaths from what officials suspect were two tornadoes that struck the Portage area, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.