Windstorm Preparation Tips For Your Business
Strong windstorms have the potential to seriously damage or even destroy a business. You should undertake measures to ensure your commercial facility can withstand a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone, or other powerful windstorm. An essential tool in windstorm preparation for your business is a windstorm emergency response plan. It can help minimize windstorm damage to your property, company, and employees. These measures can be taken years, months, or even hours in advance of a windstorm hitting your location.
After the response plan has been devised, you should train all staff members involved, put it into practice, and note what works and what doesn’t. The preparation and instruction should ideally also involve external emergency response services. The strategy needs the backing of upper management to be effective.
The five steps of a windstorm emergency action plan are as follows:
Strategy
Conduct a risk analysis a few months ahead of a potential incident. Examine the common windstorms in your area to see if your buildings can withstand them. Make sure key services can continue to run both during and after a windstorm by preparing emergency equipment. To protect your staff, construct a wind-safe room.
Preparation: 48 Hours Prior to a Windstorm
Take action to prevent flooding by emptying storm drains and erecting flood barriers. Protect or get rid of possible wind-borne debris (e.g., scaffolding). Examine your supplies and schedule maintenance for your emergency tools, such as water pumps and generators. Begin safe shutdown processes, for example, by withdrawing stock and backing up computer data.
Preparation: 36 Hours Prior to a Windstorm
Finalize the protective measures against wind and flood. Evacuate non-critical personnel, switch off fuel and gas services, and turn off non-essential electrical systems. Shut down manufacturing facilities that could be damaged, as well as production machinery and systems that depend on utility power.
Response: 12 hours Prior to and throughout a Windstorm
Throughout the duration of the storm, evacuate your emergency response team to designated secure parts of the facility (such as a windstorm shelter or an emergency command center). For the most current local and federal government instructions, keep an eye on local weather warning services and news.
Recovery: After a Windstorm
It can be more hazardous to clean up after a storm than to go through the storm itself. Before turning on the electricity, have qualified personnel inspect all utilities and search for potential dangers such as live electrical wires and shattered glass. Then, survey the damage, prioritize temporary repairs, and notify contractors to carry them out.
Filing an Insurance Claim for Windstorm Damage
If you have suffered damage due to a windstorm, it’s important that you gather the necessary evidence of damage and file an insurance claim as soon as possible. However, the requirement to detail each loss and negotiate a just compensation can make submitting an insurance claim seem like a tedious, full-time job. Moreover, any inaccuracy or missing information can result in a much lower settlement.
While your insurance company sends an internal adjuster to assess the situation, you should engage a public adjuster who works on your behalf to obtain the maximum settlement. Should you face windstorm damage to your property, don’t hesitate to contact Stone Claims Group. We have years of experience fighting for just compensation for our clients’ losses across multiple building types.