Atlantic Business Continuity Services: Getting Ready for Hurricane ...

Don't Let the Predictions Change your Preparations!

As we approach the beginning of another Hurricane Season on June 1, we start to hear a lot of predictions.?? Will it be an average year, below average, or above average?? How many storms are we likely to see?? While these are interesting questions, we need to guard against getting caught up in these news headlines.?? One only has to think back twenty years to 1992, a year that was predicted as ?below average? and indeed only saw 6 named storms.? Unfortunately for Southern Florida, the first named storm in this ?below average? year was Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that was the costliest hurricane in US history at the time.?

The lesson that we should take from that 1992 hurricane season is simple: don?t let the predictions change your preparations!? ?Hurricane Andrew taught us to always be on our guard during hurricane season, no matter what the predictions say.? ?The good news is that planning for hurricanes is one of the simplest threats to address in your business continuity plan.? There is a predictable season for these storms and there are generally good forecasts available to announce a storm?s arrival with plenty of time to put plans into action.?

The time to update or begin your hurricane plan is now, before the season begins.? Some of the issues that need to be addressed in your plan may take time to investigate and resolve, so give yourself plenty of time and start now.? Here are a few items to consider to get started:

Employees ? get everyone?s emergency contact info, local and out-of-state, and ask each employee where they plan to go during an evacuation.? Help them start planning for their families and homes.

Customers ? ask them about their expectations from your business before, during, and after a hurricane so you can address these issues and plan to meet their needs

Building ? identify who is responsible for securing and boarding up your building and when the building will be shut down and re-opened following an evacuation

Go Kits ? ask all employees to mark the items in their offices that are critical to performing their job duties, so others can pack up these items if they are not present during an evacuation

Policies ? determine how you will pay employees during office closures due to storms (PTO, sick, vacation, or special ?emergency? pay?)

Alternate Site ? identify an alternate location to conduct business if you can?t return to your primary location, and make sure your employees are willing and able to work from that alternate location

Insurance ? make sure your current policy covers flood damage to your contents, has business income and additional expense coverage, and covers the current replacement value of your assets

Technology ? determine how phones will be forwarded, how emails will be received, and how important files and systems will be accessed remotely during an evacuation and long-term recovery at another location

These are just a few of the items to consider to get started.? Remember the golden rule to business continuity planning: the best plan is the one with the most options.? Make sure you have multiple contact phone numbers, multiple alternate locations to work from, multiple copies of critical data and documents, multiple people cross-trained to perform critical functions, and so on.? In doing so you will not only develop a good hurricane plan for your business, but you will build the foundation for a good business continuity plan for all other threats to your business.?

Remember, don?t let the predictions change your preparations and get ready for hurricane season now.? Feel free to contact us with questions or if you need help starting your plan.

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