Hurricane Preparedness Plan for Protecting Your Business

With hurricane season right around the corner, it’s time to talk about preparedness for your small business.

Hurricanes don’t negotiate. They arrive on their own schedule, throwing wind, water, and chaos in every direction, often faster than you can refresh the NOAA radar. If you’re unprepared, your business, employees, and customers can suffer.

If you run a business anywhere near the Atlantic or Gulf coasts, the question isn’t if you’ll face a storm season, it’s when. And in that moment, the strength of your hurricane preparedness plan will determine whether you bounce back quickly or spend months digging out from the wreckage.

With hurricane season right around the corner, it’s time to talk about how to prepare and what every business, regardless of size or industry, needs to do.

Let’s build that plan together.

The Real-World Cost of Hurricanes on Business

Hurricanes cost businesses in the South and Southeast billions of dollars per year. And don’t think that being located well inland will prevent catastrophic damage.

• $119 billion in damages, that’s what 2022’s Hurricane Ian cost, making it one of the most expensive storms on record (FEMA).
• 2024’s Hurricane Helene’s costs far outpace Ian’s, landing in the $250 billion range and decimating areas hundreds of miles from any coastline.
• Other notable hurricanes came with similar price tags: Katrina ($201 billion), Harvey ($160 billion), Maria ($115 billion), and Sandy ($88.5 billion).

Those are staggering amounts. However, it’s not just the costs of repairs to consider. You also need to think about the swathe of devastation these storms leave in their wake:

• 40% of small businesses affected by a hurricane never reopen after a disaster, according to Ready.gov.
• Even a near miss can shutter operations for days, bleeding revenue and eroding customer trust.

Let’s put that information into another format. In 2024, almost 60% of the small businesses in Florida were in Hurricane Milton’s path. Milton’s total costs were only $34 billion, making that storm less catastrophic by far than Helene, which blasted across the Southeast later in the year.

Just in Florida, Milton’s path meant:

• 1.9 million small businesses were affected.
• 4 million workers were affected.
• Businesses lost a collective $516 billion in revenue.

Again, these numbers are just for Milton, which ultimately plowed across Florida and then moved back out to sea. A storm like Hurricane Helene, which inundated Florida’s west coast with flooding and rain, then moved up through the Southeast and drowned areas as far away as the North Carolina mountains, the toll to small businesses was unimaginable.

A solid preparedness plan is more than a luxury; it’s a must-have for your company.

7 Steps to Protect Your Business Before, During, and After a Hurricane

Rule #1 for storms: Plan, prep, communicate, and then keep communicating. Of course, communication can be tough with the Internet down, power out, winds raging, and flood waters rising. Modern telecommunications tools, like SMS alerts, can help support your preparedness and make sure you can communicate even when other networks are down.

1. Understand Your Risk

Hurricane planning begins with brutal honesty: Are you actually in harm’s way? That’s tough to answer given the variability of hurricane paths these days. No one in North Carolina or Tennessee expected Helene to wreak devastation when it was coming ashore along Florida’s panhandle, but it did. So, how do you factor location into your planning with that kind of uncertainty?

Geographic Reality Check

Plug your ZIP code into FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer or NOAA’s Historical Hurricane Tracks tool. If you see swirls of Category 3 winds brushing past your county every decade, you’re on notice.

Regulatory Guidance

FEMA’s Business Continuity Planning Suite

and Ready.gov’s Hurricane Toolkit outline specific requirements for storm doors, roof tie-downs, and flood zoning. Bookmark both.

Real-Time Alerts

Sign up for automated text or voice updates from the National Hurricane Center. Better yet, pipe those alerts into a DialMyCalls mass SMS list so that key staff members get warnings the moment they’re issued.

Takeaway: You can’t fight what you don’t see coming. Map the risk and pipe in live data. Know your risks so that you can create a plan that accurately accounts for them.

2. Form a Hurricane Response Team

Think of your response team as the kitchen brigade in a high-pressure restaurant: each person owns a station, and when the heat surges, everyone knows their move. Here’s an example of how you might structure your team:

Role	Core Duty	Backup
Incident Commander	Makes final calls on closures or evacuations	Ops Manager
Communication Lead	Sends all DialMyCalls alerts; monitors replies	HR Rep
Facilities Captain	Secures windows, shuts off utilities	Maintenance Lead
IT Guardian	Executes data backup & shutdown sequence	Senior SysAdmin

Share the roster company-wide so that everyone has access to it. Store it in the cloud and print a copy for your go-bag.

3. Craft an Emergency Communication Plan

Your emergency communication plan spells out what’s being communicated, when, and by whom. It should have several different parts, including:

Pre-Storm Outreach

• Scheduled SMS blasts: Use DialMyCalls to preload messages, like, “Storm watch in effect. Stage-1 prep begins at 3 p.m.” and set them to deploy even if you lose power.
• Customer notices: Tell clients about modified hours or delivery pauses before social media rumor mills take over.

Real-Time Updates

SMS beats email by a mile during emergencies. The average open rate is 98 % within three minutes. Email sits under 20%, and you can’t afford to deal with that when a storm’s approaching. Make sure that you:

• Keep messages under 320 characters.
• Place the imperative up front: “EVACUATE now,” “STORE CLOSED,” “ALL-CLEAR.”
• For deeper info, add a shortened URL, if cell service is spotty, at least the headline lands.

Two-Way Channels

Enable DialMyCalls’ 2-way texting so employees can check in. A quick “I’m safe” reply helps you track headcount without endless phone trees.

4. Back Up Data and Harden IT

Triple-Layer Backup

• On-site NAS stored above projected flood height.
• Off-site drive rotated weekly.
• Cloud snapshot every 24 hours.

Power Down Gracefully

Create a shutdown script for servers: disconnect, cover ports, and wrap towers in plastic bins.

Redundancy for Lifelines

Keep a mobile hotspot and spare laptop in your emergency kit. After landfall, you’ll need quick access to insurance forms and vendor lists.

5. Secure the Physical Premises

Building Inspection Checklist

• Reinforce doors with deadbolts and storm bars.
• Install hurricane shutters or pre-cut plywood panels.
• Seal roof vents and skylights; anchor loose HVAC units.

Flood Mitigation

• Elevate critical equipment on cinder blocks.
• Sandbag entry points and low windows.
• Shut off main breakers to prevent electrical fires when water rises.

Inventory Protection

• Photograph assets room by room. Store images in the cloud—proof for insurance adjusters later.

6. Prep Employees and Customers

Employee Playbook

• Evac routes: Map primary and secondary exits and distribute that as PDFs and laminated wall posters.
• Assembly points: Choose two points, one on-site for moderate storms, and one inland if a full evacuation hits.
• Pay & PTO policy: Spell out how wages continue during closures to quell anxiety.

Customer Messaging (Bullet Style)

• SMS: “Due to Hurricane Zoe, orders placed after 9 a.m. Tuesday ship once we reopen. Stay safe!”
• Website banner linking to live status page.
• Social media pin with FAQ on delays, refunds, and support hours.

7. Execute a Post-Hurricane Recovery Plan

Damage Assessment

• Safety sweep: Check for gas leaks, downed lines, and structural cracks.
• Photo doc: Take pictures of everything before moving debris.
• Salvage triage: Prioritize files, servers, and inventory that matters most to your bottom line.

Insurance Coordination

• File claims within 24 hours. Be prepared for delays, though. Remember that insurers will be inundated with claims right now.
• Provide time-stamped pictures, equipment serial numbers, and repair estimates so your insurer can make informed decisions.
• Use SMS to coordinate adjuster visits and contractor arrivals so you can keep everything moving.

Phased Reopening

• Essential staff return (communications, facilities, IT).
• Soft launch: Limited hours for 48 hours.
• Full operations once utilities stabilize.

Throughout, broadcast updates via DialMyCalls. Customers appreciate transparency and employees know when to clock in.

Quick-Reference Hurricane Preparedness Checklist for Business

• Risk map printed & bookmarked
• DialMyCalls contact groups uploaded
• The response team roster posted
• Data backups verified
• Roof & window reinforcements installed
• Emergency SMS templates pre-scheduled
• Insurance policy numbers in the cloud drive
• First-aid & tool kits restocked
• Post-storm inspection forms are ready

Tape this list inside your supply closet door, on your office wall, or somewhere else that it can be easily referenced when the time comes.

Why DialMyCalls Is Your Communication Multitool

When power flickers and Wi-Fi collapses, DialMyCalls helps you stay in communication with the people who matter. Schedule alerts, blast voice calls, or launch two-way texts from any browser, or even phone in a message if the laptop’s underwater. Thousands of municipalities and businesses lean on it because it’s simple, scalable, and built for worst-case days.

Ready to put your hurricane plan on autopilot? Start a free DialMyCalls trial and see how fast reliable communication can be.

Don’t Leave Planning for Last

Hurricanes test every seam in your operation, from the roof shingles to the morale of your night shift. By mapping risks, rallying a response team, hardening infrastructure, and, above all, communicating clearly and constantly, you can tame at least some of the chaos they bring.

So, print the checklist, preload your texts, and practice the drill. When the next storm wall clouds over the horizon, you’ll face it with a plan and your business will have a better chance of still standing when the sun breaks through on the other side.

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