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Every year, June 1stmarks the beginning of hurricane season. That’s the date when you should be reviewing your hurricane preparedness business plan, so that if a storm appears you will be ready to react.

To begin, make sure all your property insurance requirements have been made and documents are easily accessible. In one of our previous blog posts, we’ve outlined an extensive list of all the ways to prepare your property before a storm approaches. At the start of hurricane season, it’s important to review these steps and make sure you’ve assigned who is going to do what task, so everyone is working towards the goal of preparing the property when and if it’s necessary.

When the National Hurricane Center declares that the storm notice changes from a watch to a warning, it’s time to close your business and vacate the building. What is the difference between a Hurricane Watch and a Hurricane Warning? It depends on the distance to the storm or hurricane and, as it gets closer, the accuracy of predictions for its strength and path.

The National Hurricane Center tracks storms from their beginnings. As these storms are identified and tracked, the Hurricane Center uses a graphic, on their website, in the shape of a cone, to illustrate the probable path of a storm. This is the guide to use to see if there’s a watch or a warning.

Within the cone, there are different time zones: 5-days, 3-days, and closer. Depending on where you are within that cone, you should keep an eye on the developments and plan accordingly. If your area is within the 3-day cone, the storm is moving in a path that may reach your area in three days. At this point, it’s time to set up all your preparations, as discussed in our earlier blog.

Hurricane Watch

A hurricane watch is the area inside the cone that is 48 hours ahead of the storm. At this point, it’s important to prepare as if the storm is headed directly for your property.

That means you should be executing your plan, so that all is set and you’ll be ready to leave in 12 hours if you are told by authorities to evacuate the area or there’s a hurricane warning issued.

Be sure that you (and your tenants) have all your property’s valuable information (files, papers, contracts, etc.), or these documents are accessible from outside the facility. It’s a good idea to ensure that everyone on your property (i.e. all tenants) are taking care of their evacuation plans, also.

Hurricane Warning

A hurricane warning is issued 36 hours ahead of a storm, indicating there’s a high probability your area is going to start experiencing tropical force winds in 12 – 24 hours, with wind speeds increasing after that to hurricane force.

It’s important to stay tuned to local news and to be listening to weather reports after a hurricane watch has been issued, to know when (or if) the hurricane watch becomes a hurricane warning.

Once a hurricane warning issued,it’s time to close your facilities. Let your tenants know that, when a hurricane warning has been declared by local authorities, building management will be closing the building(s), for everyone’s safety.  

We always suggest moving all your important files, and other equipment, off the floor and away from windows, as well as closing all interior doors. Due to the potential possibility of power loss, unplug all electrical devices. 

Once the facility is closed, everyone needs to stay away until building management has declared the facility is open and safe, ready for people to return. Since you won’t know if there’s any damage to the facility, or its surroundings, until after the storm has passed, you’ll need to have a communications plan in place to let your tenants know how they will be notified, once the facility is open again and it’s safe to return.

Following the news before the storm and staying updated on the building reopening after the storm is every owner and tenant’s responsibility. It’s important to have processes in place for all of these steps at the beginning of hurricane season!

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