Something no one wants to think about is preparing for a disaster. If you look around at news reports for the past year or so, without a doubt you will see that disasters happen, whether you are prepared for them or not. Waiting until a disaster is upon us is the worst possible time to get prepared. So, what can you do.
There are resource pages for every city, county and state on the web under the .gov extension. Head over to one of them and print out the list of items they recommend you have on hand.
It can get very expensive to purchase all of those items at once, so post that list where you see it every day, and each time you head off to the store, get an item or two for your stockpile.
I have been through my fair share of hurricanes and earthquakes and power outages, and I can give you a few hints.
- Batteries and a boom box are essential.
- Battery backup units for charging cell phones, very important.
- Propane for your barbeque. You can still prepare meals if you have a working barbeque.
- Frozen quart baggies of clean water. I keep a couple of those in my freezer all the time. They help keep your freezer cooler and when they melt, you have fresh, clean drinking water. And ONLY open the freezer or Fridge when absolutely necessary.
- Gallons of drinking water
- A French press for coffee, gotta have coffee.
- A backup kit of prescriptions and a first aid kit.
- Extra food for pets
- I also freeze a couple of loaves of bread and sandwich fixings.
- A list of phone numbers for family and friends. I don’t know about you, but my phone remembers all the numbers I call to reach people, so I have literally NO idea how to get a hold of people if I don’t have MY phone.
- Battery powered lanterns and candles for the evening. You don’t need a broken foot during a disaster, make sure you have enough light.
That’s what I have learned to do for my home, but what can you do for your business?
Make certain you are backing up your data regularly. If you don’t have cloud back up set up already, it is a good idea to do so. That way, with a tablet of a laptop, you can access your work files from anywhere should power be out at your office.
Set up a disaster plan with Central Comm. Give us a call and we will work with you to keep your phones answered during times of disaster. Also, make sure you have a plan within the company for who the key people will be during times of disaster.
I know this is not a light subject, but it’s an important one and the time to prepare is BEFORE a disaster hits.
Central Comm
At your service.