Make Sure to Prepare for a Storm

11/1/2020 (Permalink)

In recent years, many different types of disasters have affected the United States. Flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and blizzards are natural disasters that can threaten your home, business, and community. During National Preparedness Month, your local SERVPRO® Franchise Professionals want you and your customers to be aware of the steps to take to help prepare for Mother Nature's worst. 

    National Preparedness Month is the perfect opportunity to review your emergency plan. Emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like yours, to people just like you. Tornado outbreaks, river floods, flash floods, historical earthquakes, and even water main breaks and power outages in U.S. cities affecting millions of people for days at a time. 

    Now is the time to think about the basics, things you will need in advance of an emergency, how you will communicate, what supplies you will need to keep in your home, car, or office. Use the list provided here to build an emergency supply kit to ensure your family is equipped and ready for any disaster type. The more you know about what to do in an emergency, the more confident and secure you will feel in your abilities to manage through a disaster. 

    Preparation is the key to making it through any size disaster, whether it is a small water leak, a large fire, or an area flood. The best time to plan for such events is not when the event happens, but well before it happens. No one ever plans on a disaster, but now, you can plan for it. Contact your local SERVPRO® Franchise Professionals for more information and tools to help you be "Ready for whatever happens." 

PREPARATION FOR YOUR BUSINESS

How quickly your company can get back to business after a tornado, fire or flood often depends on today's emergency planning. Th e regular occurrence of natural disasters demonstrates the importance of being prepared for any emergency. While each situation is unique, your organization can be better prepared if you plan carefully, put emergency procedures in place, and practice for all kinds of emergencies. The following are common-sense measures business owners and managers can take to start getting ready. A commitment to begin planning today will help support your employees, customers, the community, the local economy, and the country. It also protects your business investment

and gives your company a better chance for survival.

Review the following questions to learn if your company is prepared.

Be Informed.

Do you know what kind of emergencies might affect your company? Do you know what you will do in an emergency?

Develop a Business Continuity Plan.

Do you know which staff, procedures, and equipment are necessary to keep operating? Do you have back-up plans for those operations? Do you know what you will do if your building or plant is not accessible? Do you know what you will do if a disaster impacts your suppliers? Are you ready for utility disruptions?

Prepare your Emergency Plan.

Do you have an evacuation and shelter-in-place plan? Do you have a plan to communicate with employees before, during, and after an incident? Do you have copies of buildings and site maps with utilities and emergency routes marked? Are your employees trained for medical emergencies?

Practice the Emergency Plan.

Have you practiced your plan recently? Do you practice and coordinate with other businesses in your building or industrial complex? Have you reviewed your plans in the last 12 months?

Review of Insurance Coverage.

Have you reviewed your insurance coverage recently to see if you're covered in a disaster?

Secure Your Facility and Equipment.

Have you secured all the ways people, products, and supplies get into your building? Have you conducted a room-by-room walk-through to determine what can be strapped down?

Improve Cyber Security.

Do you regularly install patches to your software? Have you installed a firewall on your computer? Do you regularly update your antivirus software? 

Promote Family and Individual Preparedness.

Do you encourage employees to have a personal

emergency supply kit and a family communication plan?

If you answered "No" to any of these questions, visit ready.gov or call SERVPRO and learn how to prepare your business better.