How to Prepare Your Business for Hurricane Season

The 2019 hurricane season is expected to be an intense one. Beginning in June and running as long as late November, the hurricane season has become increasingly unpredictable. This year alone AccuWeather expects close to 14 storms over the season. Of the 14, up to seven of them could become named hurricanes, which means they’ll bring with them cataclysmic amounts of damage. As a business, you won’t be able to control where Mother Nature lands, but you can help to minimize the damage to your property by coming up with a plan to deal with the impact of hurricanes on your business property.

1. Invest in a Water Mitigation Process

Simply put, water mitigation is the prevention of more water damage to property. The process involves taking strict actions like removing unsalvageable structures and contents, such as drywall and flooring. The affected area will be cleaned, usually by applying disinfecting components which will help with the drying and deodorizing process. This process is done by a professional team who will help restore the areas and take away the debris collected. They have advanced equipment which will measure the moisture levels of the area and will help to prevent mold and avoid water mitigation. 

2. Complete a Company Assessment

It’s not going to be a fun process, but your business will want to consider estimates for potentially costly damage to your property. It’s not easy to consider the chaos that can ensue with the danger to staff members and the financial losses that can come from hurricane damage. The ideal place to start is to look closely at the core of your business – what keeps it going and which of these factors are important when dealing with a hurricane? In many cases, it\’s the assets, location, and employees. With this in mind, consider keeping an inventory of your assets, fortifying your location, and protecting your employees. 

3. Create an Emergency Plan

It’s only human to panic when a dangerous situation approaches. That’s why you want an emergency plan in place to help minimize it in case of an approaching hurricane. The plan should take into account the changes that will come in locations, assets, and employees. It should have a basic infrastructure that’s adaptable to a business’s changing ecosystem. In the IT aspect of things, consider backing up your data. Back it up to an offsite location. Backing it up near your location won’t help much if your property is damaged and the backed-up data is lost as a result. Cloud systems are a more recent development and could be the answer to your concern. Consider creating checklists and map evacuation routes and review them on a routine basis. Prepare a two-way communication system. A hurricane can knock out the internet and communication towers, so don’t solely rely on them. 

4. Form an Emergency Response Team

Get several people from your business involved in the safety process. After you’ve made a plan, delegate the responsibilities and practice the plan. Make sure that people not only follow it but understand it. Understanding the process will help prevent panic in a real scenario. Be sure to designate specific roles to employees, especially those who show interest in helping out. Don’t forget your stockholders. Make sure that these individuals have the technology and resources to be prepared. Train these teams on a routine basis. Implement mock-drills and have everyone involved in roleplaying various scenarios.