Whether it’s a flood, a snow or ice storm, a hurricane, or other weather-related crisis, you know it’s coming. Take these steps so that you and your teams can be prepared to limit damage and lost productivity:
- Make sure that weather-related disasters and problems are addressed in your crisis management plans. Involve staff in identifying and addressing problems that have arisen in the past so that you can avoid them in the future. Conduct detailed weather hazard risk assessments at least annually.
- Partner with experts in meteorology for historical weather data that can translate into actionable information. Use storm impact and other analytics.
- Conduct scenario exercises at least annually. Hold discussion-based “tabletop exercises” as well as drills. Make sure you identify health and safety gaps and how you might address these.
- Consider climate insurance. A growing number of insurance providers have weather-related policies for businesses.
- Develop business continuity plans. Develop a checklist of details such as employee contact list, residents’ family contact information, etc.
- Take photos of inventory/workplace and keep these offsite in a digital format. These will serve as proof for any insurance claims after a weather-related disaster.
