When Hurricane Season arrives, business continuity plans and post-storm recovery are top of mind for key business stakeholders and facility management teams. It’s important, however, for all occupants to be aware of preparation tactics, potential impact and the plan of action going forward.

For Building Occupants

Leadership and/or Facility Managers are responsible for sharing business continuity plans and ensuring a post storm communication system is in place. As an occupant, it’s important to do your due diligence and review all supporting documentation as it’s released. Providing alternative phone numbers and email addresses is important for ensuring all employees can be properly notified on building condition, alternative workspace and business expectations!

In the event of a storm warning and a call for Hurricane Preparedness, all electronics (with the exception of refrigeration) should be unplugged. If all computers, copy machines and printers were to remain plugged in, the building could experience an excessive surge when power is restored.

For Facility Managers

Short term prevention plan: Ensure business critical equipment and Uninterruptible Power Supply is out the basement and above flood zones.

Long term prevention plan: Consider building improvements that minimize flood damage and install up to date power monitoring solutions to minimize downtime. When calculating the risk of business interruption, many smart meter installations pay for themselves. Just as Utility Companies can utilize smart meters to improve restoration times, facility managers can greatly benefit from having that accurate intelligence on points of power outages in-house.

Electro Industries specializes in power meters and smart grid solutions that excel at revenue grade energy measurement, power quality and advanced telemetry. Users worldwide depend on EIG power meters to monitor power information within substations, industrial facilities and commercial buildings.