Just before noon on September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Northern Florida as a category 4 hurricane, beginning its path of deadly destruction. Within 48 hours, Helene’s winds and floods left a path from Florida to the Southeastern Appalachian Mountains. The damage has left businesses across the southeastern United States devasted and highlighted their vulnerability to natural disasters. Some estimate that the damage across this region is approximately $250 billion. According to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment, OSBM estimates that damage in North Carolina alone will exceed $53 billion.

Businesses across the region now face immense financial pressure, emphasizing the need for recovery strategies and preparation as climate-related disasters increase in frequency and intensity. Retailers and service providers struggle with power outages and reduced consumer activity due to infrastructure damage. Manufacturing and distribution companies are experiencing major delays as blocked transportation routes have caused supply chain disruptions, leading to shortages of goods. Tourism and hospitality industries, reliant on steady visitor traffic especially during “peak leaf season”, have seen mass cancellations. Fall season is particularly important to many local businesses in the counties most affected by Helene, with businesses regularly citing the importance of October to annual revenue.

With the loss of essential services, utilities, and transportation, comes a long-term halt in operations for businesses across the region. The complex and time-consuming process of restoring infrastructure has slowed businesses from reopening and impaired access to key customer bases.

While businesses certainly cannot avoid natural disasters, businesses can prepare for them by creating a Business Continuity Plan (“BCP”). A BCP includes assessing your business’s risks and detailing your response to an unexpected natural disaster. Creating an effective BCP will not only help mitigate risks but will also make way for a faster recovery, prioritize employee safety, and establish clear communication methods during a crisis.

To create a BCP for your business, begin with a risk analysis to assess which threats your business is likely to face. Next, create recovery strategies specifically tailored to your business, including a crisis management team and clear communication methods. Last, implement and practice the policy to ensure that your business can keep running in different scenarios. Even if you already have a BCP, it is best practice to test it regularly and update it as necessary. To help test your BCP, Ready.gov, an official website of the United States Department of Homeland Security provides a Business Continuity Plan Test Situation Manual, accessible here.

For more information on how to create an effective BCP, consider reading the IRS guide to preparing for disasters https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/preparing-for-a-disaster-taxpayers-and-businesses or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency preparedness checklist https://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/bizindst.pdf.

 

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