Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are among the most devastating disasters ever to strike the United States and the West Indies. Between the two storms, a massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico, killing 96 people. Millions of people have been affected by these tragedies, and damage is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. On behalf of the business community, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal would like to express its support to those directly or indirectly affected by these recent events.
As leaders in the business community, we can play a role in supporting the people and organizations affected by these disasters. Texas, Florida, Mexico and the West Indies are important business partners for companies in Montréal and Québec.
Support the victims
From a humanitarian perspective, you can contribute to the Canadian Red Cross’s efforts for hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The Québec Trade Office in Houston also recommends a relief fund created to help victims of Hurricane Harvey.
situation is particularly critical in Cuba, which was hit hard by Irma and where a food crisis is anticipated. On September 16, the United Nations World Food Programme
announced emergency aid.
Air Canada, for its part, has supported humanitarian efforts in areas affected by Irma by shipping necessities in a flight on September 16.
Other fundraising efforts will also be put together for the West Indies in the coming days in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. This page will be updated once relief efforts take shape.
Montréal businesses should get in touch with partners, suppliers and clients based in the affected areas. Any support is no doubt greatly appreciated.
The American Internal Revenue Service today announced an extension for completing tax documents for businesses in the affected regions. Details can be found here.
For more information, here are a few organizations you can contact to offer your help:
Québec Trade Office in Houston
Québec Government Office in Mexico (for Cuba)
Québec-Florida Chamber of Commerce
South Florida Chamber of Commerce
Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce
Houston Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Québec businesses take leadership roles
Plenty of people are already hard at work to accelerate what will no doubt be a long, difficult reconstruction process. Québec organizations and businesses are no exception.
In terms of Québec Inc., Couche-Tard has launched a campaign to solicit donations from customers at its 9,500 points of sale in North America. The company has also donated $150,000. Couche-Tard has 700 stores in Texas, 120 of them affected by Harvey.
Hydro-Québec has dispatched 125 employees to Georgia to help get the Atlanta region’s power network back up and running.
Resolute Forest Products has pledged a railcar of lumber worth $50,000 to help the rebuilding effort in Houston.
The TMX Group, which includes the Montréal Exchange among its subsidiaries, has donated $15,000 to the fund created by the Canadian Red Cross to support victims.
Are you putting together an original support initiative? Be sure to share it with us.