Hurricane and Storm Season – Be Prepared

June 2, 2022

Hurricane and storm season has begun, and it is extremely important to be informed and prepared before a storm hits. With summer storms on the way, ACCA has a variety of resources to help you and your customers protect yourselves from nasty weather.

The Basics

Make sure your home is correctly grounded

- A ground rod is designed to stabilize voltages from the power source and to dissipate a static discharge to the earth. This helps protect your home against power surges, etc.

Reduce the amount of “clutter” surrounding your home

- Debris is one of the most damaging factors in a hurricane. Examples of debris include lawn chairs, grills, dead tree limbs, and forgotten toys – all of which can be swept up in the wind and crash into your HVAC system or house.

States that are prone to natural disasters should consider the additional purchase of a hurricane strap kit

- Hurricane straps reduce the likelihood of the unit becoming disconnected from the house during a natural disaster. For example, in South Carolina, some homes are built on stilts, so their HVAC units and houses are already elevated. While in Texas, most units are on the ground and can’t be raised.

Disaster Preparedness

After Hurricane Katrina, ACCA created the ACCA Disaster Preparedness effort, with resources for you to use to help your customers and community be prepared for when a natural disaster strikes. It is important for you to prepare for the worst, despite hoping for the best. Planning ahead can increase your chances of staying safe and bouncing back.

The primary elements of your plan are:

A basic emergency supply kit
Physical protection for you, your family, and your employees
Insurance
Getting back to business

Basic Emergency Supply Kit

These are the basic items you should have at your business and home.

Water – one gallon per person per day for drinking and washing
Food – at least a 3-day supply of non-perishable food per person, preferably things you don’t have to cook
Communications – a battery-powered or hand-crank radio and an NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both; cell phone and extra batteries for that
A flashlight and extra batteries; a battery-operated lantern
First aid kit – see below
Whistle to signal for help
Dust mask, plastic sheeting, duct tape
Personal sanitation items – moist towelettes, garbage bags with plastic ties
Wrench and pliers to turn off utilities
Can opener for food
Local maps
Important family and business documents – insurance policies, identification, and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container – one at your business location and one off-site
Money – cash, traveler’s checks, credit cards
Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person
Complete change of clothing including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and sturdy shoes
Toothbrushes and toothpaste
Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper – when diluted 9 parts water to 1 part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant; in an emergency, use it to treat water by using 16 drops of bleach/gallon of water (no scented or color-safe bleach or bleach with added cleaners)
Fire extinguisher
Matches in a waterproof container
Feminine supplies, if appropriate, and personal hygiene items
Mess kits, paper cups, plates, and plastic utensils; paper towels
Paper and pencil
Books, games, puzzles, or other activities for children, if appropriate

At home, add:

Infant formula and diapers, if appropriate
Pet food and extra water for your pet, if appropriate

First Aid Kit

Ask your doctor about storing prescription medications (e.g., high blood pressure or heart medicines, insulin) and keep at least a 3-day supply in your emergency kit. If they have expiration dates, be sure to replace them regularly.

Other items to include:

2 Pairs of latex or other sterile gloves
Sterile dressings to stop bleeding and protect wounds; waterproof medical adhesive tape to hold them in place
Antibiotic and burn ointments to prevent infection
Adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes
Eye wash solution
Thermometer
Prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment
Aspirin and non-aspirin pain relievers
Contact lens solution and case, if appropriate; an extra pair of glasses
Anti-diarrhea medication
Antacid
Laxative
Tweezers, scissors
Tube of petroleum jelly or another lubricant

Physical Safety

You may be ordered to evacuate. Don’t be a hero – go! If possible, make arrangements to stay with friends or relatives away from the storm. Make sure your employees have a similar plan for evacuation. Take your emergency kit and important papers with you. (You should also copy those papers and keep them in another location.)

Whether you’re in “Tornado Alley” or a “Hurricane Circle,” it’s a good idea to prepare a safe room. Wind can cause considerable damage to people as well as property. If a severe hurricane is predicted, board up your windows with strong plywood, at the least.

Keep a considerable distance between you and the wind. A safe room can be:

The basement
Atop a concrete slab-on-grade foundation or garage floor
An interior room on the 1st floor

A below-ground safe room (in the basement, say) must be designed to avoid accumulating water during the heavy rains that often accompany severe windstorms. Here are other recommendations from ready.gov:

The safe room must be built to withstand high winds and flying debris even if the building is severely damaged or destroyed
It must be adequately anchored to resist overturning and uplift
The walls, ceiling, and the door must withstand wind pressure and resist penetration by objects and falling debris
The walls must be independent of the structure of the building so that damage to the building will not cause damage to the safe room

If you can’t build a safe room, locate the interior room farthest from windows on the lowest floor of the building and keep your emergency kit and other supplies there. It may be a bathroom or laundry room. It should not have windows and should have a sturdy door.

Make a plan and practice it

Whether at home or at work, plan a strategy for getting everyone to the safest room possible. Be sure to take into account any physically disabled, very young, or elderly persons who may need assistance. Also, keep the route to the safe room clear of debris and furniture.

Communication before, during, and after a disaster is crucial. Here are some things you can do:

Include emergency preparedness information in employee newsletters, on the company intranet, in periodic e-mails, and in other employee communications
Consider setting up a telephone calling tree, a password-protected page on the company website, an e-mail alert, or a call-in voice recording to communicate with employees in an emergency
Designate an out-of-town phone number where employees can leave an “I’m OK” message
Provide everyone in the company with wallet cards detailing instructions on how to get company information in an emergency (include telephone numbers or Internet passwords for easy reference)
Maintain open communications where employees are free to bring questions and concerns to company leadership
Identify staff members who are responsible for communicating regularly with employees

If you have disabled people working for you:

Ask them what assistance they will need
Engage them in emergency planning
Ask about communications difficulties, physical limitations, equipment instructions, and medication procedures
Identify people willing to help co-workers with disabilities and be sure they are able to handle the job, especially if someone needs to be lifted or carried
Plan how you will alert people who cannot hear an alarm or instructions

Don’t forget any employees who do not speak English or don’t speak it well.
Learn how you can best communicate with them. Learn how to say things like “emergency” and “evacuate” in their language.

Once your plan is in place, practice it regularly, as you would fire drills. Make sure everyone knows where to go and what to do. If there are other tenants in your building, coordinate and practice evacuation and other emergency plans with them.

Plan at least two ways out of the building from every area of your building. Locate exits and mark them prominently. Provide employees with floor plans and site maps that include emergency exits, evacuation routes, and the location of the safe room. Install emergency lighting along the routes and at exits.

Decide who has the authority to order an evacuation and who will lock up after everyone is out. Do a head count or roll call to make sure no one is left behind! Designate an assembly site, one location near your facility and another in the general area in case you have to move farther away.

Also, decide who has the authority to declare the “all clear.”

Insurance

This may seem obvious but is worth mentioning nonetheless. Be sure you have business interruption insurance as well as standard property damage coverage. Also, find insurance for wind and flood damage. Seek riders for additional coverage in particularly high-risk areas.

Getting Back to Business

In the event of a catastrophic event, you will want to get back in business as quickly as possible, not just for your business, but for your employees. People devastated by a disaster want to resume their routines: there’s psychological damage as well as physical damage after a disaster. Plan now for emergency payroll, expedited financial decision-making, and accounting systems to track and document costs. Establish procedures for succession management, even if it’s only temporary. If possible, include someone who is not at your location.

File insurance claims as soon as you know the extent of the damage.

Also, think about how you’ll get back into business. How will you communicate with customers that you’re still there? Do you have relationships with other suppliers in the event yours are not able to meet your needs? Have you discussed emergency procedures with other ACCA member contractors in your area? After Hurricane Katrina, member contractors around Gulfport, MS, coordinated with each other to help with jobs, parts, supplies, and the like.

You can’t expect the federal or state governments to help you much, even though they learned a lot about emergency response from the 2005 hurricanes. You need to take steps to ensure the safety of your family and employees. Have a plan at work and a plan at home. Share them with your employees and encourage them to make plans for themselves. Print out this page and give every employee a copy as well.

Then, practice, practice, practice the plans until they’re second nature.

For information on flood recovery, click here. For a last-minute essentials guide, click here. Remember, you are the first line of defense when disastrous weather occurs. Don’t get caught in the eye of the storm without a plan.