Flowcrete Employees Help Local Community Recover from Floods

Flowcrete India is working with its employees and the local community near its Chennai office and factory to help rebuild after devastating floods hit the city in early December last year.

Severe rainfall between 1st and 2nd December caused the city’s worst floods in over a century. This led to a tragic humanitarian disaster of over 200 fatalities, significant damage to property, the temporary closure of businesses and a breakdown in public services.

Flowcrete India would like to praise its workforce who, during the worst of the flooding, proactively worked to hand out clothes, blankets, food packets, medicine and water bottles to some of Chennai’s worst affected inhabitants. This included helping people who were stranded once the city’s transport links shut down, providing assistance to a nearby orphanage that was unable to access any shops and supporting government officials in the area that were busy providing aid.

To help alleviate the long-term problems caused by the flooding, Flowcrete India’s employees have each voluntarily donated a day of their salary, a generous gesture that has been matched by Flowcrete, raising over USD 3,200. This has been donated to the Sri Arunodayam charitable trust to help it recover from damage caused by the floods. The trust is dedicated to running a home that provides care, shelter and rehabilitation therapies for orphans with mental health issues in Chennai.

Flowcrete India’s management team declared a holiday for its factory staff on the 2nd December until the 7th December to help its employees cope with the storm and its aftermath and to give them time to help those in need in the surrounding area.

Being located in one of the worst hit areas of the city, many of Flowcrete India’s employees were unable to move between their homes and the site. Flowcrete India’s factory and office is located on a raised area of land, however not far from the site some neighbourhoods were suffering with 10-foot high water levels.

Like many other industrial facilities in Chennai, the sudden deluge affected Flowcrete India’s operational activity in a variety of ways. For example the business faced logistical delays and when the nearby power substations were submerged under water the site was affected by electrical blackouts until the 6th December.    

Getting Chennai’s industrial output up and running as quickly as possible has been key to ensuring that the city is able to move on from the flooding. Flowcrete India’s factory and office began full operations again on the 7th December as the power was restored and transport links reopened.

Flowcrete Group Ltd. would like to offer its condolences to all those affected by the floods and to reiterate that it is exceptionally proud of the compassionate, fast-thinking and selfless work undertaken by Flowcrete India’s staff to help those around them during such a difficult time.