Stay safe and ahead of the storm this season by having plans in place for your home, property, and business. Find resources below for storm preparation and recovery.
Hurricane Preparation
Hurricane survival plans should be put into action well in advance of a storm arriving. Here are Pinellas County’s guidelines for preparedness.
City of St. Petersburg resources for local updates, preparedness, and recovery.
FloridaDisaster.biz provides businesses, small and large, easy access to critical information before, during, and after a disaster. It is a partnership between the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM). Click here to learn more and register your business today.
The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program’s (DAIP) mission is to provide disaster survivors with information, support, services, and a means to access and apply for disaster assistance through joint data-sharing efforts between federal, tribal, state, local, and private sector partners.
As part of its service offering, the Florida SBDC offers Bizaster, a free mobile disaster assistance app. Bizaster, available in both English and Spanish for Android and iOS, features risk assessments, customizable checklists, and other resources to help businesses prepare, respond, and recover from natural and man-made disasters. Bizaster can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
FEMA’s Ready Business Program moves organizational leaders through a step-by-step program focused on staff, surroundings, space, systems, structure, and service. Following these steps in the Ready Business Program as a part of overall business continuity planning will help protect assets (people, property, operations); sustain the capability to provide goods and services to customers and/or supply chain; maintain cash flow; preserve competitive advantage and reputation; and provide the ability to meet legal, regulatory, financial, and contractual obligations.
This guide to Hurricane Preparedness and Recovery is intended for use by small business owners having 25 or fewer employees. You may believe you are familiar with disasters by watching them on television. Please be assured that until you are in an actual disaster — watching windows being blown out around you, feeling water rise around your ankles, being without electricity or drinkable water for days and, worst of all, losing loved ones — you have not experienced the full impact of a disaster.
Recovery After the Storm
When a disaster occurs, businesses must take care of their employees’ needs, communicate the impact, address financial matters (e.g., insurance, disaster assistance), restore operations, and organize recovery. The Guide includes resources to help reopen your business and make progress through long-term recovery.
After the storm, it’s time to assess the damage. Keep your battery-operated radio close for news reports about damage, road closures, power outages and other emergency instructions. With at least seven days of uncertainty depending on the storm, you’ll need to rely upon what you’ve stored for food, water, medications and entertainment. After a hurricane, it could be weeks or months before life gets back to normal.