It’s August 15 and a hurricane just came roaring through your Florida community. Thankfully, your home is fine, but your business located closer to the eye of the storm sustained some serious damage and flooding from the storm surge. To make matters worse, the local government just yellow tagged your building and your building is closed. Repairs must be made and the building reassessed before you can reopen. Now what?

Maybe you dodged a bullet and your offices are in good shape, but you have no power and the water has been cut off due to contamination. Do you have a plan?

Unfortunately, this is a common scenario for businesses after catastrophes like hurricanes.  In fact, 40% of small businesses[1] won’t re-open after a natural disaster. However, with some advanced planning and a business continuity plan in hand, you could be back in business within a few hours (and not be a part of this statistic).

With hurricanes becoming more intense and the season running from June 1 through November 30, being prepared is not an option. Here’s a list of some of the impacts you need to consider. You can also download a comprehensive Hurricane toolkit from the FEMA website.

• How will you access your server located in your office?
• Where will your employees physically work if you have no access to your building?
• If your employees are able to work from home or other remote locations, how will you communicate?
• What will you do if you have employees who are unable to work due to personal storm-related issues?
• How will you get needed files and documents needed to transact business?
• How will your customers reach you?
• Will you be able to pay critical bills and take care of payroll?
• Are any of your suppliers or business partners affected?
• Did you have the right insurance coverage in place? Is your insurance going to take care of flooding?

If you’re like most small business owners, you are so focused on running your business that you don’t have the time to focus on a business continuity plan. Thankfully, there are companies like ours that specialize in helping small businesses tailor an ironclad disaster recovery plan. Our experts will visit your business, review your systems, ask the right questions and put together a business continuity plan you can depend on. It’s important though that you have a plan in place BEFORE the threat of a hurricane. Contact us now to learn more about how we can help you prepare for the inevitable.

Here are some additional resources to help your business prepare for hurricane season:

• FEMA Hurricane Toolkit
• Emergency Supply List
• Florida shelters, road closings, and evacuation routes
• Florida Disaster Business Preparedness website 
• Emergency State Assistance Information Line

[1] https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1510690297358-1e6c4874b251c3022ac4b57b0369e2da/Hurricane_Ready_Business_Toolkit_Interactive_Final_508.pdf