Report: DIY major players deploy truckloads of supplies

New York -- A Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that Home Depot and Lowe’s Cos. had deployed hundreds of truckloads of storm-recovery inventory Tuesday into areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy.



The range of merchandise being deployed varies by the nature of the issues faced. For example, said Aaron Flowe, Home Depot's Northern Division president, areas with brief power outages tend to have more need for cleanup items like trash bags and chain saws, while those with long-term power outages continually need more generators. Flowe told WSJ that the company is still figuring out what areas have need for what kind of product.



Lowe's said all its stores were equipped with backup generators. Of 200 stores in the affected area, four stores are still closed, including one in Rosedale, N.Y., that was flooded, according to the report. The other three — one in Pennsylvania and two in New Jersey near waterways that experienced storm surge — have problems with their backup generators, and are expected to be resolved by the end of Tuesday.



Home Depot has about 12 stores still shut after 44 closed earlier than usual Monday. The ones that remain unopen are in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan are