In May the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its forecast for the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, predicting an average hurricane season with anywhere between four to eight hurricanes, two to three major hurricanes, and nine to 15 named storms.
Hurricane Barry, the first hurricane this season, just recently wreaked havoc in the southern United States, including Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, in July. Barry was the fourth recorded storm in history to make landfall at hurricane strength when it hit Louisiana on July 13.
Every year starting in June, the Atlantic hurricane season begins and lasts through Nov. 30. During the season, tropical storms form in the Atlantic basin and occasionally make land fall on gulf states and states on the Atlantic coast. These storms can be fairly mild or very devastating depending on their category and other conditions when they make landfall.
Being prepared can minimize the impact of a bad storm or hurricane. Your best option is to prepare ahead of time before a threat is imminent and a hurricane watch has been issued. Being prepared will reduce stress, property damage and the financial hit to your business.
Here are some suggested actions you can take to prepare your business to weather a hurricane:
• Plan an evacuation route – This is especially important if your sawmill or pallet business is near the coast. Employees should know where to seek shelter in your building, as well as how and when to exit it in an emergency. You and your employees should also be aware of where the nearest shelters are in your community and what roads are designated as evacuation routes, to ensure that evacuation occurs in time to still safely navigate these roads.
• Keep emergency supplies on hand stored high and dry – Supplies should include flashlights, extra batteries, candles and lamps, matches, materials and tools for emergency repairs, and a three-day supply of drinking water and food that can be stored without refrigeration. Items should be stored in high, dry locations; vacuum sealing is a good way to ensure items stay dry and clean.
• Inventory your property – Having an accurate inventory of business assets will make it easier to file a claim if necessary and you may also discover that you don’t have the right amount of insurance to cover at-risk assets.
• Review your insurance policies – If you are at risk of hurricane damage, make sure that hurricane damage is covered in your policy.
• Develop emergency contact procedures – Create a list of employee cell phone numbers that you can contact in case of an emergency. Establish a communication policy and train workers on the number to call for more information.
• Do what you can to prepare your facility –If a hurricane watch is issued, do what you can to protect your building from water and wind such as boarding up windows and entry ways.
• Develop a written “Disaster Recovery Plan” – This is also termed a “Business Continuity Plan” and will be a document that details how your business will respond and recover from a disaster. There are disaster recovery plan and business continuity templates that you can follow as guides to prepare your own plan. These should include how you will physically keep your sawmill or pallet business running and what you might do to protect information assets such as electronic customer records and communication systems if a disaster strikes.
• Store backup copies of business-critical information offsite – This backup should include the data needed to operate the business, as well as key records like copies of insurance policies, banking information, contact details for key vendors and so forth.
• Train employees – Make sure your employees have been briefed on the plan and know what the disaster recovery plan entails. This will ensure your employees will be able to help you get the business back up and running as quickly as possible.
If you do end up going through a hurricane or severe storm, be prepared to clean up and do repairs quickly to get back into operation. If possible, save damaged items in case they need to be inspected by an insurance adjuster. Also be sure to save receipts to document any spending you do to recover from the storm in case you can be reimbursed by your insurance company.
The fact is that many smaller businesses never recover if they experience a disaster and that is often due to a lack of preparedness and foresight. There is a reason large sophisticated companies spend time and money on disaster preparedness. It’s cheaper to be prepared than to not be prepared and it’s just good business management.
