Charlotte-area businesses brace for Hurricane Matthew

Charlotte-area companies are bracing for Hurricane Matthew, gearing up to provide customers with critical supplies and closing some locations in the path of the storm pummeling the East Coast.

Hotels in the area are filling up quickly as coastal residents evacuate. Charlotte-based Duke Energy has deployed a small army of repair personnel to address storm damage when necessary. Many other companies are saying they’ll determine how best to respond once the storm’s local effect becomes clear.

Mooresville-based Lowe’s has been tracking the storm since it formed at its Emergency Command Center in Wilkesboro, spokeswoman Karen Cobb said. The center, which operates 24/7, was first opened in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo. From there, Lowe’s leaders work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government offices to anticipate the needs of local communities, Cobb said.

The retailer has already delivered additional truckloads of in-demand products like bottled water and plywood to stores in affected states. Lowe’s has also stocked its distribution centers in Kissimmee, Fla.; and Valdosta, Ga.; and Garysburg, N.C., with additional emergency supplies like tarps and five-gallon buckets.

Lowe’s also on Friday said it’s donating $500,000 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, a gift the retailer said will help provide “food, shelter and comfort to people impacted by the hurricane.”

On its website, Matthews-based Harris Teeter has listed 20 stores in affected areas, mostly in South Carolina, that are closing or closing early. A spokeswoman said the grocer will send truckloads of water, ice, dry ice and other in-demand items to communities in need when necessary.

Charlotte-based Belk may soon start providing relief to customers in affected areas, just as it did during the flooding in Louisiana, spokeswoman Jessica Graham said. Additionally, the retailer is temporarily closing or altering the hours of over 30 stores in areas affected by the hurricane.

Banks are bearing down, too.

In advance of the storm, Bank of America closed more than 200 branches and other offices in areas where officials declared mandatory evacuations across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and along North Carolina’s coast, spokeswoman Jennifer Darwin said. In addition, the bank delayed openings at more than 50 sites in Florida on Friday, she said.

It’s unclear whether the bank has suffered any property damage yet, although early indications are that most sites have not been damaged, Darwin said. She said some of the Charlotte-based bank’s south Florida locations began reopening Friday.

In an interview Friday with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan took a moment to give “a shout-out” to the bank’s employees in Florida and the Carolinas coast.

“They are going through a tough time. So we are doing our best to protect them,” Moynihan said.

Wells Fargo has closed upwards of 300 branches in Florida alone, Kristy Marshall, spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based bank, said on Friday. Elsewhere along parts of the East Coast, including in North Carolina, the bank has sandbagged and boarded branches that could be affected by the hurricane, she said.

Additional branches could also be closed, Marshall said. “We’re monitoring the path and making decisions as needed.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Charlotte-area businesses brace for Hurricane Matthew."