Preparing your business for a disaster

These recommendations are provided for informative purposes only. They are not intended to be, and should not be construed as, an attempt or effort by Seminole County Economic Development, to manage or direct any other company’s business affairs.

Although the Seminole County location, in the center of the state, provides some natural protection against major storms, which tend to have weakened by the time they reach us, it is important for all our businesses to have plans in place to prepare for possible emergencies, respond during a disaster, and know what actions to take after a disaster, for the health and wellbeing of staff and clients alike, as well as for the continuity of service and business recovery.

Here are some tips:

• Take some time to assess your risks and review your insurance policy with your insurance agent, attorney and/or landlord. Remember to include an inventory with pictures of equipment and supplies, in case of loss.
• Determine in advance what kind of equipment, supplies or preventive actions your business must take to prevent or minimize loss in the event of an emergency, and have those supplies ready.
• Establish in advance a way to communicate with your employees regarding any changes to normal operations, and if possible, an alternate payroll method should banks not be accessible after a disaster.
  Have handy an emergency contact list including your employees, partners, vendors/suppliers.
• Consider your facility, take a tour of your business space to identify a safe room that could be used if a disaster strikes without warning during business hours. Include a first aid kit, weather radio and battery-operated radio in your safe room.

Other Resources:

• Seminole County’s Office of Emergency Management has thorough information for our businesses. Visit Business Disaster Plan for more ideas on how to prepare, and Business Disaster Kit for ideas of what to include in your emergency kit.
• FloridaDisaster.Org provides some tools to make such plans before a disaster strikes, during a disaster, after a disaster-immediate action, and after a disaster-rebuilding.
• Ready.gov provides a variety of toolkits for businesses to prepare and respond to different types of emergencies, including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and power outages among other.
• You may also download and complete the Emergency Response Plan template from FEMA.
• The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) also provides some tips to prepare and respond to emergencies that may affect your business, including information on financial assistance for recovery after a disaster.