Tag Archive: business continuity

Flood Preparation for Commercial Properties

June 28, 2012

Flooding can devastate businesses and homeowners alike; but there are some additional things to consider when dealing with floods and commercial properties. Here are some pointers to make sure you and your commercial property are prepared should flooding occur.

  1. Know your level of flood risk. Check flood maps for your area and talk to local authorities. Sign up in advance to receive flood warnings. Keep in mind that flooding can happen not only as a result of hurricanes but also from snowmelt, levee failure and even burst pipes.
  2. Make sure you have sufficient amounts of the right kind of insurance. Consider not only property damage but damage to inventory and business disruption.
  3. Take preventative steps. It costs less to mitigate flood damage than to respond after the fact.
  4. Develop an emergency plan. Take steps to minimize damage. Make sure staff and commercial tenants know what to do in case of flooding and have an evacuation plan in place.
  5. Review landlord-tenancy agreements. Understand who is responsible for damage to personal items, inventory and business equipment from flooding.
  6. Consider installing FEMA compliant flood vents. Floods vents are relatively inexpensive to purchase and install, and they can help maintain the structural integrity of your commercial property.

FEMA has a guide to help businesses and commercial property owners prepare for emergency situations. The Emergency Guide for Businesses and Industry is available for download.

All Flood Solutions flood vents are FEMA compliant. They can be installed into existing commercial properties or new developments. Contact the flood vent experts at Flood Solutions to learn more and keep your commercial property safe.

Develop an Emergency Plan for Your Business

June 21, 2012

In an earlier blog post, we talked about how to create a family emergency plan in case of flooding or other disasters. While a family plan is important, it’s also important to have an emergency plan for your business. Business emergency plans help companies prepare for and recover from disasters.

Generally, developing an emergency plan for your business consists of the following steps:

  1. Risk assessment. Identify possible risks to your business. What events could limit sales or stop production? Which events would have the most impact?
  2. Strategy development. What strategies could help prevent these events or lessen their impact?
  3. Action plan development. Determine how to put some of these strategies in place. Who will do what? Which strategies have highest priority?
  4. Update and review. Your business emergency plan is a living document. Periodically review and update it as your business changes.

Small businesses are especially vulnerable to disruption because they have fewer resources and less financial backing to absorb losses. Fortunately, Ready.gov has templates available for business continuity planning and emergency response planning to make the process easier. By working through these templates and implementing each step, the chances of your business successfully surviving a disaster or emergency will be greatly improved.

If you’re not sure how prepared your business is to deal with and overcome flooding or other emergencies, the American Red Cross has an online emergency preparedness self-assessment tool to measure the emergency preparedness of organizations. The test is free, but you’ll need to register.

Flood vent installation is an important part of emergency planning for many families and businesses. Flood Solutions FEMA compliant flood vents are easy to install in homes and commercial/industrial buildings. For more information about making flood vents part of your emergency plans, contact the flood vent team at Flood Solutions.

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