Hurricane

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What many can’t answer is how their businesses willrecovetr afterward. With current economi conditions, this is more crucial than ever. In the aftermatn of Hurricane Ike’s hammering of Houston and Galveston, last year, residents wanted to return to thei damaged property and were extremely frustrated when locapl officials denied them access forsafety reasons. Protests and rumors ensuexd while local civic and economic life ground to astiflinvg halt. Will your companyy survive if Ike’s successor hits Tampa Bay this year? Does it have a hurrican recovery plan? Here are some strategiew for creating one.
To be effective in recovering froma hurricane, communication methodws need to be addressedr first. Knowing how to reach your company associates, active clients and majorr suppliers is critical to your business after a Even more critical is for them to know how toreacn management. Most people plan to use theird e-mail and cell phones to keep in touch. To do so would be a serious error. First responders, medical, law and the may all be relying on cell the Internet and mobilw radio systems that would impede your use of these systems. So, the first part of your hurricand recovery plan requires developing alternative methodsto communicate.
One strategyu is to coordinate with a locakl radio station to pass along importantcontacft information. This needs to be planned early. Call severao station managers to see if they woulde be willing to help in this regard as apublivc service. Stations on which you advertise, or locally ownec independents may be the most Be sure everyone inthe company, current clients and essentialk supply chain links know both the primary and backulp frequencies on which they’s be informed of companyy plans. They’ll appreciate knowing that you’re taking steps to addressa their needs. The second part of your hurricanw recovery plan is evaluating the business site forfeasiblee use.
If your location is unusable due to road power outages or significantstructural damage, you need to have an alternatre location available, if possible. If specializef equipment is involved, a fellow franchiseew or trade association member in an unaffected area nearby may be able to sharequarters temporarily. Consider working out reciprocal arrangementsw in advance to protect both ofyour businesses. If speciapl equipment is not a consideration, a hotel, convention center or office suite rentall facility may be a goodtemporarg location. First, you’ll need to establishn roles, responsibilities and chain of command in the eveng that management is unavailable after a hurricane.
Everyone should be fullgy trained in their potential recovery Schedule the time and make participation mandatory by all Ask key suppliersif they’d send your reps to as well. Roles and responsibilitiesx can be divided intothreee areas. The first area is To mitigateyour liability, you don’t want your employees, clientsx or vendors traveling to the workplace if it is not As part of your training, driv e the routes to your work site and look for potential such as flooding or downed trees. After a two well-trained staff members or even local volunteers trained in damaged assessment should be assigned to determine the safetyh of both your workplace and trave routes inand out.
Use your communication plan to relayu this informationto employees, clients and key supplierx alerted to tune in for it. The second area is While it is hoped that people will keep some emergencyh cashon hand, appreciate that not everyone will be prepared in this regard. Designate primary and backul personnel who can be responsible for handlingfinanciakl hardships, along with petty cash for small repairs, watedr bottles and the like. too, that employees know who they are, and what provisionsa have been made. The final component of your hurricane recoverg planis post-incident management analysis — lessons learned.
Keepinhg a paper trail of the good, the bad, the ugly and the completelyt overlooked elements of how your firm handled the crisis will allow youto re-focus your planning for the next