Gulf Coast Strong

By David W. Brown

It was the first hurricane for Chad “The Beast” Seales. He had taken over as store director for the Moss Bluff location of Rouses Markets only two years earlier, and weather forecasters were converging on grim news: Hurricane Laura was headed straight for the Lake Charles area, which included Moss Bluff.

All Seales knew, really, was what locals told him not long after he arrived — and he asked everyone. He learned that after Hurricane Rita in 2005, wind damage left people without power for almost a month. No grocery stores were able to provide them with ice, water or the necessities of survival. Seales was determined that if Laura hit, his Rouses would be ready. “If things went bad,” said Seales, “we were going to help this community by being stocked, being clean, and being organized every day — and we were going to open the day after the storm.”

For the people of Moss Bluff and the surrounding area, things did indeed go bad. The storm hit like a freight train, and overnight, lives, fortunes, businesses and families were displaced, upended, ruined and lost. Seales’ wife, Jennifer, and his children left town the next day for safety. “Home to me is my family. We have a saying above our bed: ‘Home is where you lay your head."

He was determined to help other homes and families get through this thing. Laura came through on a Thursday morning. That night, his Rouses crew cleaned up and sealed leaks as best they could. Friday morning, Rouses was selling ice and water in the parking lot. That evening, every register was back open.

“We are locals helping locals,” Seales said. “That’s what we do. It’s not just a gimmick and it’s not about making money. We want to help you. If there’s no power and you’re living out of an ice chest, you need ice, and we made sure we had it.” Though power was down for weeks, they never once ran out.

Seales says he’s never seen a company as prepared for hurricanes as Rouses. Employees from across Louisiana joined the Moss Bluff team to help relieve the local workers who had their own problems to deal with. The company rented out entire floors of hotels to give displaced workers a safe place to sleep, and the company provided meals for the devastated team.

“I’ve never seen another company do something like that for its workers,” said Seales, “and I’ll work at Rouses for the rest of my life because of that.” It’s just what families do.

When Delta hit weeks later, Seales’ family was still out of town, and he decided to sleep in his store with a couple of volunteers. Rouses, again, was going to help the community find its legs after another devastating strike.

“This is the longest I’ve been without my family, but our house had a lot of damage,” said Seales. It’s been hard, and he is looking forward to being reunited. The house can be fixed. And he’s looking forward to it being a home once more.