Making Sure Your Organization Weathers Hurricane Florence (or Any Other Storm)

Every business continuity plan has provisions to ensure the organization is monitoring their environment for proactive alerts in the event of an emergency… or at least, every plan SHOULD have those provisions.

As Hurricane Florence bears down on the eastern coast of the United States, we’re reminded of an article we wrote just a few short months ago about preparing for hurricane season before it happens. The best time to prepare for an emergency is long before it occurs, not when it’s suddenly upon you and you’re out of time.

Extreme weather has been on the forefront of many organization’s minds recently as they look at their business continuity and preparedness plans. Heat waves have rocked the UK as well as many parts of the United States, causing power outages, HVAC failure, and more. Sudden downpours have led to flash flooding everywhere from New Jersey to Spain and Pennsylvania.

As we mentioned in our previous article linked above, weather pattern changes are causing storms to grow larger in size while lingering longer over some regions; this leads to more damage when water leaks, roads flood, HVAC units don’t run, and power is lost.

Hurricane Florence is being predicted to bring intense catastrophic inland flooding in parts of the United States, and it’s no longer just coastal areas that feel the violent impact of hurricanes and storms. Organizations must be prepared for the brunt of inclement weather long before it happens, as these storms often form quickly, and the impact can be tremendous.

How can you remain protected?

When a massive storm hits your region, as Hurricane Florence is predicted to be, the most important issue is to stay safe. Proactive environment monitoring in the face of extreme weather may not allow your team to be onsite due to travel restrictions or hazardous conditions, however it can notify you as to when certain situations occurred. This will give you a frame of reference as to when your power was lost, or your data center temperatures began to rise, or water was detected in areas of your facility. Knowing when these issues started will allow you to begin planning recovery sooner rather than later.

Your organization may have regulatory issues that you need to comply with; proactive alerting and reporting will give you the data you need for compliance as well as follow-up reporting you may be required to take part in.

In addition to monitoring and reporting that proactive environment monitoring provides, you may also want to consider physical barriers to help prevent water from reaching sensitive equipment and areas. A water alert notifying you of a leak in your data center is helpful, however if you cannot reach your facility due to a travel ban, your equipment and data may still be severely impacted. Yes, your insurance may help with recovery costs and equipment replacement, but what if your data is corrupted or irretrievably lost? Would your organization be able to fully survive such an episode? Water leak barriers and physical protections together with advanced water detection and alerting can help you recover much faster in nearly every extreme weather circumstance.

Be prepared for any weather-related emergency situation

With Hurricane Florence bearing down on the United States, and two more named storms right behind, the need for proactive environment monitoring and protections is clear. Even if your organization isn’t in the direct line of this extreme weather, you can still be impacted just as badly in the event of a sudden storm, a prolonged power outage, heat wave and more.

Be sure that your business continuity plan contains proactive environment monitoring to protect your most critical data and assets; 30% of all data loss and downtime is caused by those environment issues that firewalls and traditional security plans aren’t looking out for. Don’t let a storm or sudden extreme weather be the cause of an unnecessary prolonged outage or downtime. Invest in proactive environment monitoring today and be ready to re-open for business tomorrow.