Hurricanes are extremely dangerous weather events that can devastate livelihoods, disrupt business operations, and damage properties, equipment, and vehicles. It’s important to take the time to prepare for hurricanes, in order to best minimize your risk. Being prepared can also help minimize fear and confusion, keep your personnel safe, and allow your business to operate off-site. Here are some steps you can take to help prepare your business for a hurricane:
To prepare for a hurricane, first you should identify the areas on your property that are most vulnerable to the effects of high winds, heavy rain, flooding, and tornadoes. From there, follow these steps:
In order to get to safety on short notice, you must ensure that your vehicle is always prepared and ready to go:
It’s important that your business operations are still able to run smoothly during a hurricane. To assist with this, identify your most critical devices, applications, and equipment and make sure they are available at a different location in the event of an evacuation.
Ensure that all of your company’s essential data is constantly backed up to a network drive or cloud storage system. In order to do this, you should formulate a plan with your IT department. This way, data will be accessible to your employees should they need to work from home or from another business location. You may also want to consider supplying your employees with remote equipment.
In the event of a hurricane, you will want to have an established written procedure that clearly outlines what to do, where to go, and how to stay connected. Your employees should be trained on this comprehensive business continuity plan, as well as trained on first aid and CPR. On a scheduled basis, your employees should also practice evacuating the building and going to a safe, designated area.
Your business continuity plan should include, but is not limited to, the following:
You should also keep an inventory of outdoor equipment that needs to be secured when a hurricane warning is issued, such as tools, hazardous materials, propane tanks, gas cylinders, and flammable liquid drums.
Having an adequately stocked emergency kit is vital when preparing for a hurricane. Here are some items to include in your emergency storm kit:
Once your kit is prepared, you should ensure that it is placed in an accessible location to your staff, and that they are trained and briefed on what is in the kit, and how to use the items. For additional information on what you should include in your kit, as well as other preparation tips, please refer to the Government of Canada’s Get Prepared webpage.
To find out if your business is located in a high-risk area for hurricanes, you can visit Environment Canada’s Canadian Hurricane Centre. Here you can also view hurricane tracking information and weather warnings, as well as learn more about the nature of hurricanes.
Another way to stay alert is to set up weather notifications on your mobile phone using a reliable weather app, such as the Government of Canada’s WeatherCAN app. With these types of apps, you can receive alerts about current and forecasted weather in your area. You can also listen to the radio, and watch local news for public announcements on weather alerts.
If it is determined that your business is at a high risk of a hurricane, it is vital that you stay connected to your employees. Inform your staff of any alerts and/or action plans regarding natural disasters by sending a communication through email, text, and your company website.
You can’t always control what happens to your business, especially when inclement weather is involved. You can, however, control how prepared you are. Having the right protection in place can make a huge difference. To learn more about protecting yourself and your business, visit our Commercial Property Insurance page today!
This blog is provided for information only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information and will not be responsible for any loss arising out of reliance on the information.