What should you be
doing right now to prepare?
·
First, you need to meet with your commercial
insurance agent to insure that your coverage is up-to-date and you understand
if you are covered for wind, flood and fire damage and what your coverage for
these damages are. · Second, don’t keep a large inventory of food. Food spoilage not only results in the loss of product, but potentially the loss of coolers and refrigerators. Ask your suppliers and distributors what their emergency plan entails.
· Identify your emergency preparedness team. These are key staff members who are willing to stay behind and secure the premises and be the first back in to re-open.
· Have a shut down plan. This outlines who does what in securing the location and handling technological matters such as: backing up your POS, batching out your credit card transactions, capturing your payroll information and securing your technology equipment. Thumb drives and laptops are recommended for these members during evacuation.
· Keep staff contact information. It is helpful to have an idea of where your staff is going to evacuate, have their cell numbers and also the phone numbers of any family members they may be staying with.
· Consider creating a Facebook business page or Twitter account for your staff to communicate during an event. Cell phones may not be reliable giving tower outages, etc.
If evacuation is necessary:
·
Change your message on the phone or reservation
line, cancel your reservations and parties. · Empty the ice machines and coolers.
· Flip the breakers to the off position to reduce chance of fire.
· Grab your important documentation—insurance policies, payroll, etc.
These are just the highlights of what you can do to prepare
and reduce your losses during a weather event. There are so many aspects of emergency
preparedness and it varies depending on your operation, number of locations and
proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. Four things all of us can do is consider, think,
discuss and act. It’s may not be fun, but it is completely necessary.
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