Can You Prepare Your Business for Flood Damage?

4/3/2019 (Permalink)

Is your business prepared for Flood Damaged?

Having procedures in place to orchestrate recovery from a catastrophe is something that businesses often overlook.

Even if your business isn’t located in a flood zone, it’s possible to experience flood damage. Here are some suggestions to help you plan for the before and after of a flooding incident.

Assess Your Risk

The location of your business affects how you’ll prepare for the possibility of a flood. A number of conditions can cause flooding to occur or increase its likelihood:

• Those located in low-lying areas and along coasts are at particular risk
• Too much rain for the ground to absorb can cause flooding, whether occurring in a short time or over a longer period
• Excess rain or snowmelt can affect levees, dams or sewage systems, causing breaches or overflows

Develop Your Plan

Once risk has been evaluated, you can choose strategies that seem most appropriate considering your circumstances. Some are preventive in nature while others are designed to assist in establishing normal operations after a flood. Use this list of ideas to spark discussions about plan elements that are suitable for your business and environment:

• Determine an evacuation plan for your facility in the event of a catastrophic event
• Stock an emergency preparedness kit that includes a battery-operated or crank radio and water
• Maintain a data backup routine and store backups in multiple off-site locations
• Decide if adding flood insurance provisions to existing coverage is warranted
• Consider whether purchasing business interruption insurance is a worthwhile expense
• Identify companies in Mesa, AZ, that can respond quickly to repair flood damage, including remediation of black water encroachment

Planning for contingencies is an important part of running any company. Anticipate the effects of flood damage that your business might experience and develop a roadmap for recovery. Doing so can let you return to serving your customers with less disruption than you may experience without advance preparation.