Hurricane Preparation 2012: Develop a Plan, Save Money

The Atlantic hurricane season kicked off on June 1 and continues through the end of 2012, with the potential to affect the Caribbean, southeast and northeast United States. While the season thus far is quiet–and is forecast to be a less active hurricane season than 2011–it’s always a great time to make sure your business is prepared for a hurricane. Residents of upstate New York certainly felt the effects of 2011’s Hurricane Irene, which took an unexpected turn inland to drench the Empire State with rains and flood, and closed major highways in the wake of the storm.

Preparing your business for hurricanes requires data and records management and implementing an infrastructure that can keep a businesses running in case of emergency. Last year April and I developed a hurricane operations manual. The main priority has to be safety. And so our entire staff will evacuate to nearby Brookshire, TX to wait out the storm. At the beginning of every hurricane season, we buy plenty of canned food and water jugs so that our staff can keep on powering on (forgive my pun) despite the damages a hurricane may bring. I also ensure that we have access to copies of important, financial data—nothing can derail our business quite like a loss of information. We are very lucky to have a ready supply of generators that can keep the power on, to prevent data loss on our servers.

Waiting until the last minute to prepare means you may be unable to get some of the equipment your business needs to stay running, such as diesel or natural gas generators that can power the electricity, prevent sensitive business data loss from a break in power, and keep the air conditioning flowing after a hurricane. Generators offer an uninterrupted power supply that can keep appliances and machinery working during a storm, minimizing production losses.
Hurricanes are unpredictable. If the storm strikes, it can bring flood waters, winds, and heavy rains that keep people inside. If you’re not prepared for the storm, you’ll have trouble getting help when you need it. Finding diesel generators in stock and ready for immediate delivery to power your business can be difficult to impossible. We offer short-term generator rental that can help get your business back on its feet after a storm strikes. We have an ample supply of flexible, portable generators. Whether buy a generator for sale or procure a generator for rent, you can get back to work after the storm, minimizing business losses and workflow delays.

While generators can be costly, they prove their worth when natural disasters such as hurricanes strike. A severe hurricane can knock out power for weeks, as Hurricane Katrina did in 2005. A stop in workflow or loss of business data is sure to set you back significantly more than the cost of the generator. At Worldwide Power Products, we offer new and used diesel generators for home and business at a wide range of price points.

Have you ever had to stop work due to natural disaster? Did you go back and calculate lost revenue and damages? If yes, what steps did you take to better prepare?

-Mark