Key Points
- Getting your business running again after a hurricane takes planning and preparation.
- Before the season starts, your hurricane preparedness plan needs to be ready.
- Depending on your business, working remotely might be a solution following the storm.
Have you started preparing your business for hurricane season in South Florida?
You don’t need to wait for an official hurricane warning to get started. It takes time to prepare and put in place all the proactive measures you’ll need to protect your business in the event of a hurricane. Getting your business ready in advance can make a huge difference in how it recovers following the storm.
A hurricane preparedness plan will help you to respond better to any damage caused by a hurricane, enable your employees to work post-hurricane (if possible), and get your business back on track as soon as possible.
5 Ways To Prepare Your Business For Hurricane Season
It all starts with planning.
There are many parts to a hurricane preparedness plan, such as planning for emergency situations, assessing your systems, and purchasing supplies in advance. If necessary, arrange a video call or a meeting with your team to address concerns such as power outages, how to access work documents, and what to do if the hurricane is more serious than expected. Practice and review any procedures as needed at least once a year.
On that same note, put together a plan for hurricane recovery that includes repairs, contacting your insurance provider, and cleaning up. Communicate clearly and openly with your employees and let them know exactly who to contact if they need support. Whenever possible, let your team know when you’ll be offline and around when they can expect you to return, and also ask them to do the same.
These are a few more steps to include in your hurricane preparedness plan that can help keep your employees safe and your business resilient:
Plan and assess
Start by taking a close look at all aspects of your business, for example, your workforce, resources, and equipment. Consider your employees’ locations, the equipment they have or might need, and even how they might be affected by a hurricane.
Identify any obstacles that might interfere with their work and what you can do to help them. Will you purchase backup power sources for your employees? Should there be a power outage, they may need more mobile data to use the hot spots on their phones. Will you provide them with that? Are there any special devices they need to work with?
Organize your contacts
You should have the most current contact information for all of your team members, contractors, service providers, suppliers, and partners. It’s also a good idea to provide them with different ways to reach you. Be sure to have the number for your insurance company and any other emergency hotlines, as well.
Back up your data and documents
All documents, whether electronic or paper, should be backed up to your company’s cloud or server before a storm hits. Don’t forget to also back up other important paperwork like financial, legal, and tax documents.
Besides allowing your team members to continue working while away from the office, backing up your data can help prevent data loss and protect it if any computers get damaged, lost, or stolen.
Consider working remotely
Floods and debris in the streets might make it impossible for many of your employees to drive to work after a storm.
Besides making sure they have access to the internet and electricity, these are a few ways you can help make remote work more efficient and less stressful:
- Decide how you will communicate with each other and with clients as well as the platforms you’ll use.
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- Set realistic deadlines and work schedules
- Make sure everyone has a generator or backup power in case of a power outage and also the devices they need to do their work.
- It might take some time for homes to get their power back on. Make a list of backup work locations in the area, such as cafes, that might get their power back before.
Stay safe and informed
Staying consistently up-to-date on weather reports is the one of most important things you can do during hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center or your local news station are some of the best sources to get the latest updates.
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