Lake Charles native Steve Willis is no stranger to responding after major disasters or emergencies.
Since starting his career in disaster recovery 23 years ago, Willis has worked 14 major catastrophes. Some include the Oklahoma City bombing, along with hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike.
Whether it was a tornado, flood or a building fire, he said he learned to expect the unexpected.
“That’s normal in my business,” he said. “It tugs at your heart, especially when you’re dealing with people who may have lost everything. When you initially arrive on site, you’re really like a counselor because they’re still processing what just happened.”
Today, Willis is the president of Steamatic, a company formed in 1968 that cleans and recovers businesses and homes affected by emergencies. His days of going to the scenes of major disasters are behind him, and his new role focuses on making sure first responders have food, lodging and other essential supplies.
“I do miss the thrill of going out and helping someone recover and get their business open,” Willis said. “But I don’t miss the 18-20-hour days or sleeping in my car.”
Background
Willis graduated from Barbe High School in 1983. He attended McNeese State University for two years before transferring to the University of North Texas and getting his bachelor’s degree in business management.
After college, Willis said he worked a series of jobs before starting his first disaster recovery job in 1993. As an estimator, he was required to go out to homes or businesses at all hours, assess damage and write an estimate before crews were dispatched to do the repair work.
“All the sales reps had their turn on call,” Willis said.
Major events
The first big emergency Willis had the opportunity to work was the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995. He and a crew of workers spent nearly two weeks removing furniture and other damaged items from inside the severely-damaged Federal Court building, which was adjacent to the bombing site at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
“We were running about 150 people in the building 24 hours a day,” he said.
One of the more unique incidents was helping the Baltimore Police Department recover evidence from its basement-level evidence room that flooded after Hurricane Isabel’s landfall in September 2003. He said they were able to recover about 92 percent of the evidence, including some that were needed for pending trials.
“We recovered everything from drugs to guns that were in shelves and drawers,” Willis said. “The guns were easy to recover, but things like photos and documents were tricky.”
Willis said he was also involved in the recovery of Australia’s largest cell phone switching system that was damaged after a building fire. He said he spent three days in Sydney helping recover the system.
Willis said he also helped salvage the basketball court at Shaquille O’Neal’s high school in San Antonio that was completely submerged after a flood in 2008. The work, he said, was important because he followed O’Neal “from day one at LSU.”
“The primary instructions from the school was to save the floor,” Wills said. “This was the floor that Shaq played on, and the pressure was on to save it.”
Hurricanes
Willis said being in New Orleans just days after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in August 2005 was “mind-blowing.” He said his team assisted FEMA in getting hotels open to house the agency’s relief personnel. Willis and other workers spent their nights at a secured compound near the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
“We were there so early, we still had to have armed guards,” Willis said. “The simplest things we take for granted, we didn’t have. There was no water, no gasoline, no cell service.”
Altogether, Willis said he spent roughly three months assisting in the recovery efforts post-Katrina.
“I never did anything bigger than Katrina,” he said.
Willis also spent about three weeks in Lake Charles following Hurricane Rita’s landfall in September 2005. During that time, he stayed with his grandfather near Evans, a community in Vernon Parish. He said the recovery after Rita was swift compared to Katrina.
“I felt Lake Charles bounced back very fast,” he said. “When I was there early on, neighbors were cutting trees and moving debris.”
Willis also spent time doing recovery work after Hurricane Ike’s landfall in September 2008. He said crews spent time recovering 23 grocery stores in Southeast Texas, stretching from Beaumont to Conroe.
Current role
Willis has worked for Steamatic for roughly 15 years and has served as its president since 2014. His main job is helping to maintain franchises throughout the world, while also leading the sales and marketing efforts.
During the August flooding that impacted several Southeastern Louisiana parishes, he said officials at the Steamatic office in Fort Worth made sure everything was set up ahead of time for the responding teams.
“We are working to find places for them to stay, fuel providers to keep generators running along with food and cash,” Willis said. “They have limited cell (phone) service. Plus, they’re so busy because they are in crisis management.”
Willis said his role in support provides a “lifeline to the outside world” for workers at the scene of a major disaster or emergency.
“We can deal with all these support issues they need,” he said. “It’s those 100 little things they can’t do on site.”
Willis stressed the need for businesses and residents to do their research ahead of time before deciding which recovery companies to use. He said many companies that aren’t reputable will go to a town after a disaster and take advantage of people.
“They come to make money real fast,” he said. “When they leave, it’s hard to get them to come back and fix something.”
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Online: www.steamatic.com
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