With the two major hurricanes that have hit the US in the past few weeks and another month and a half left in hurricane season, it’s important to make sure your business is prepared and aware of how to get back to work after a natural disaster. As a company headquartered on the coast, we know firsthand how difficult it can be to build back to where you once were, especially if you don’t prepare adequately.
Before there’s ever even a threat of a hurricane, there is a list of things you can do to make emergency preparation go faster and smoother.
You’ll want to create a detailed plan outlining various strategies for various scenarios, including supply chain disruptions, transportation issues, and communication issues. If your company is affected, chances are the businesses you work with will be too. You should also assess all possible risks, like vulnerabilities to your office, such as flood risk, wind exposure, and potential damage from storm surges if you’re close to the coast. It’s also a good idea to review your insurance coverage to see if your plan covers hurricane damage, and update your policy if necessary. Keeping a stockpile of supplies like non-perishable food, water, first aid kits, flashlights, batteries, and portable chargers is a good idea, too.
Of course, above anything else when a hurricane is headed towards you and your business, ensuring the safety of your employees is paramount.
Make sure your team has a solid communication plan and check-in protocols in place, whether this be through email, a chat program, text, or a phone tree. If possible, host a training session for your team long before the threat of a hurricane so they don’t feel uncertain of what to do when one is headed your way. Include evacuation procedures and information on how they can personally prepare emergency kits for themselves and their families. Additionally, provide your employees with the confidence that their job isn’t at risk for choosing to do whatever makes them feel safe instead of being in the office.
After that is done, ensure that essential processes are also accounted for.
This includes payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and service delivery. Many of these processes may be hard not to put on pause during a natural disaster, but if it can be helped, the company will be better for it. You’ll be able to return to normal business operations with much more ease if you can continue those operations.
Once your employees are accounted for, taking care of your electronic equipment around the office is next.
This means a number of things, starting with powering down all non-essential electronic equipment. You’ll then want to move all assets to a secure location off of the floor and away from windows however possible, and do your best to board up and seal anywhere water may come in. Implementing backups is going to be your best bet for keeping your data and your clients’ data protected even in bad weather. You will want all systems backed up offsite, and you need to perform test restores successfully. Regularly backup your data to the offsite location, and implement cloud storage solutions for easy access.
After the storm, recovery steps will look different for everyone based on damage and losses.
You’ll want to have a plan for assessing damage, contacting insurance providers, and a list of priorities for repairs and replacements. This will allow you to quickly analyze when you can resume operations once the storm passes. In case of a prolonged shutdown, you may also need to have a disaster reserve of a certain amount of funds set aside.
