Arkansas companies, National Guard send hurricane help

• Last week, Sanders posted on X that she asked the Arkansas National Guard to transport 25,000 meals to Georgia in the wake of Helene, which has killed at least 227 people.

State of play: Walmart, Sam's Club and the Walmart Foundation have committed $16 million to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton relief. The money goes toward organizations like the American Red Cross and Salvation Army plus in-kind donations for items like baby formula.

• Walmart employees have also been physically helping with relief efforts like handing out water to those affected, Lucas McDonald, director of emergency operations at Walmart, told Axios.
• The company also set up more than 100 of its recovery centers where Hurricane Helene victims could shower and do laundry for free. McDonald said Wednesday the company was preparing to have those ready for Milton, too.

How it works: Walmart has an emergency center at its Bentonville headquarters normally staffed by about 40 people who deal with regular emergency calls from stores like power outages.

• During disasters like Helene, operations at the center ramp up and hundreds of employees help out, McDonald said.

Zoom out: Tyson Foods deployed its Meals that Matter team and served tens of thousands of meals to people affected by the hurricane, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

What's next: Walmart is preparing its stores in affected areas with the most-needed items like flashlights, batteries and food items, McDonald said.

• As of Wednesday, Walmart had closed 255 stores in anticipation of Hurricane Milton. Two stores — one in Asheville, North Carolina and one in Boone, North Carolina — remained closed because of flood damage from Helene.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to note that Walmart, Sam's Club and the Walmart Foundation have committed $16 million to hurricane relief, an increase from the previously committed $10 million.