Hunker Down - Hurricane
Preparation
July 27, 2009 -
Katie Long
Summer
time, and the living is easy. Unless, of course, you find yourself
smack dab in the middle of a hurricane. It’s been almost a year and
the Houston area is still trying to rebuild from our run-in with Ike
last fall. The media is taking steps to help prepare citizens for
another storm but this advice is mainly focused on getting your
house in order. This month we wanted to offer some tips for
preparing your business, just in case we are faced with another
hurricane this season.
The
most common mistake is not planning for a potential disaster.
Remember, up until now you’ve invested in building your business –
financially and emotionally – so now’s not the time to cut corners.
Plus, disaster planning does not require a million dollar solution.
You just need a common sense plan that protects you, your employees
and your business.
•
Build solid contact lists and keep the information updated and
accessible for your employees. Include key vendors and
suppliers, and emergency service organizations like the local
fire and police departments, hospital and ambulance services,
building services and government relief agencies. Make sure your
contact lists include alternate phone numbers in case one is not
accessible. When building your contact list get as much
information as possible – relatives’ contact information,
alternative communication devices, etc.
•
Back-up all of your critical data and move the media to an
off-site storage facility.
•
Designate an out-of-town phone number where employees can leave
an "I'm Okay" message in a catastrophic disaster.
•
The number one rule in disaster planning is to protect your most
valuable assets: your people and your data. Secondly, you’ll
want to make some plans for when, where and how your people will
get back to work.
•
Determine which members of your staff you will need to carry out
hurricane preparations and who you can reasonably expect to be
available.
•
Review your list of major equipment and furnishings to determine
which items need to be protected or removed and record how you
plan to do it. The basic choice is to try to protect your
equipment and furnishings in-place or move them out of the area
which is at risk. In either case, determine what equipment and
manpower will be needed to relocate these items. If you plan to
protect equipment in-place, move it to well-protected interior
rooms on floors above the level of potential flooding.
While
evacuation is an option for many, ‘hunker down’ is the option for
most small businesses, property managers and chief engineers. If a
hurricane rolls into town it’s not necessary to go into panic mode.
Plan your disaster so you can work your disaster.
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