True North Emergency Management, a Neel-Schaffer company, recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, but our story began long before our incorporation.
For nearly 25 years, True North and Neel-Schaffer have supported communities across the nation in recovering from disasters of every scale. It began in 2001, with tornado recovery in Columbus, MS, led by now Neel-Schaffer CEO and President Joey Hudnall. Continuing with Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in Florida (2004), to Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast (2005), the Great Flood of Cedar Rapids, IA (2008), and Hurricane Ike in Texas (2008), Neel-Schaffer assisted dozens of communities with debris monitoring, engineering, and navigating FEMA reimbursement.
Since the official founding of True North in 2010, we’ve supported response and recovery for hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, ice storms, and oil spills, including historical events such as Hurricanes Sandy (2012), Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Harvey (2017), Michael (2019), Ian (2022), and Helene (2024), major wildfires in Colorado and California, and the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2005).
In 2024, we completed our largest simultaneous deployment to date, responding to Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, monitoring over 12.9 million cubic yards of debris, onboarding 800-plus employees, and supporting more than a dozen municipalities as well as state agencies that included the Georgia Department of Transportation, the South Carolina DOT, the Tennessee DOT and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Through every mission, our focus remains steadfast – caring for communities, serving clients when it matters most, and delivering exceptional results. We look forward to building on this legacy and continuing to show up as a trusted partner to our clients for years to come.
