"We're honored to work with FEMA," Lee said. "Everybody should make themselves available to work with the agency, because so much is needed to help so many people."

The company has worked with FEMA since proving itself in the wake of Hurricane Ivan when it struck the Gulf Coast in 2004. Lee said Express Personnel provided an instant staff of computer-literate workers with good language skills - often bilingual as needed for the locale - with diverse skills and who could maintain their composure under stress.

Afterward Express was approved under General Services Administration price schedules to work for any federal agency as quickly as necessary.

"We worked for many, many months after Ivan at the Disaster Recovery Centers, taking claims, organizing food and water and shelter, and whatever needed to be done … at dozens of offices, 12 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. "With Ivan behind us, we were just finishing on some (Hurricane) Dennis projects when Katrina hit."

The weekend after Katrina's landfall, a FEMA official called Lee and asked for emergency recovery center staff ready by the following Monday morning. Early job placements so far have included at least 25 people in Baton Rouge to set up command posts, about 40 in Biloxi ranging from supervisors to forklift drivers, and an unknown number at related government call centers.

"It's the tip of the iceberg," he said. "I was in Florida after Ivan and I was overwhelmed by the damage there. You just can't comprehend the amount of damage and what this has done to people's lives."

Express' own employees living in the area are trying to recover as well, spokesman Sean Simpson said. The Gulfport, Miss., office was flooded, and the Covington, La., office suffered some damage as well. Simpson said the Oklahoma City office is trying to help as much as possible by shifting payroll processes to other centers and sending generators and equipment to the franchise offices.

"That's the role of the franchisor, to take care of their needs and be here for them when they face the unexpected," he said.