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Pizza orders skyrocket after Hurricane Lili

October 7, 2002

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LAFAYETTE, La. -- When Hurricane Lili robbed more than 100,000 residents of Lafayette of their electrical power on Oct.3, pizza became a hot commodity in the area.

According to The Advertiser, the few pizzerias that had electricity cooked pizzas by the hundreds.

"After we broadcast we were open over 96.5, we had orders all over town," Chris Delahoussaye, a Papa John's Pizza manager, said. "Everybody was trying to feed everybody. It was hard to get cash because the banks were all closed."

Delahoussaye said a normal Friday's lunch sales are $600 to $800, but on Oct. 4, about a half day after Lili was gone, the store did $2,000 worth of pick-up orders.

Greg Metcalf, manager of Deano's, a local pizzeria, said that multiple orders for the company's largest pizzas nearly drained the store's dough supply. Another local store, B.J.s Pizza, ran out of large pizza shells.

"We had over a 20 percent increase in business Friday," said Kim Goyne, a manager at B.J.s "Business has been pretty steady since."

Papa John's made so many pizzas that the drivers had to pick up ingredients from stores on the way back from their delivery runs.

"I had my drivers pick up green peppers and onions several times," Delahoussaye said.