Sanderson Farms Inc. has provided an update on the company’s operations and the impact of Hurricane Ida on its locations in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“We are thankful that we have not had any reports of injuries to any of our employees as a result of this devastating hurricane,” said Joe Sanderson, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Sanderson Farms, Inc. “We have experience managing through catastrophic weather events, and we were prepared to respond to Hurricane Ida and do all we can to protect our assets. Our top priority has been and will continue to be the safety of our employees, contractors and independent contract producers, and the health and wellbeing of the animals under our care.”

Sanderson said all of the company’s facilities have power except for Hammond, Louisiana, and the feed mill and hatchery in McComb, Mississippi. “Those facilities will operate on generator power until utilities are restored. Fortunately, none of our facilities have experienced any significant structural damage.”

The operations in Hammond, as well as the Mississippi locations, were not operating the day after the hurricane but were expected to resume production on Aug. 31 at the Laurel, Collins, Hazlehurst and Jackson, Mississippi locations.

“The widespread power outages are creating challenges for our employees in Hammond and McComb, but we hope these locations will be back in operation later this week,” Sanderson said. “We also expect to operate over the holiday weekend, including Monday, to catch up on lost production.”

The company also reported no significant bird loss and that 650 broiler houses, 17 pullet houses and 48 breeder houses were operating on generator power. In anticipation of the storm and resulting power outages, the company had topped off feed bins and fuel tanks, tested generators and prepared farms before the storm hit to ensure growers had adequate supplies of feed and fuel to care for flocks until power was restored.

“Hurricane Ida was a storm of historic proportions, and we are deeply saddened by the extreme devastation and losses that have occurred,” said Sanderson. “We are grateful for the support from local authorities and the heroic work of first responders who are dealing with the aftermath of the storm as conditions allow. We will continue to help those displaced by the storm, including providing ice and food to the affected areas when it is safe to do so.”