"Being prepared for hurricane season is key in reducing the loss of life and property. Knowing what to do when a hurricane strikes takes planning."
Michael D. Brown, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, New York Times, May 13, 2002

In today's global marketplace, virtually no company will remain unaffected by severe weather, so now is the time to act to protect your people, business, and operations.

Even if you believe your business is located only in areas that are unlikely to be affected by severe storms, it may still face weather-related risks if a supplier you rely on is forced to suspend production. With today's complex, interdependent, and often intercontinental supply chains, it is likely that severe weather will have some impact on your operations.

Understanding the potential danger severe weather poses and preparing for it is the key to managing weather-related risks. Your employees should know what to do before, during, and after a storm hits. To gauge preparedness and protect your people and business, you should be asking the following questions:

• Do I clearly understand my potential natural-disaster losses? How can I mitigate the expense?
• Is there a formal plan in place to manage weather-related risks?
• Do employees and operations managers know what to do in an emergency?
• What are the procedures for a storm watch? A warning? An emergency?
• How can I continue operations if employees must vacate a facility?
• What should I do after a storm passes? How can I determine when it is safe to re-enter a facility?
• How can I manage and minimize a storm's impact on my supply chain?
• What can I do to assure suppliers, employees, and customers that my company is prepared for weather-related risks?
• Do my property and casualty policies cover me if I have a claim?

Risk Consulting Practice

To answer these questions, consider the following services that can minimize the impact of a severe storm and help protect your business.

Natural Hazard Risk Consulting — Conduct a natural hazards risk assessment to understand the potential impact of severe weather. Computer modeling can be used to analyze and quantify property risks and develop strategies to help mitigate natural hazards. Other services include maximum foreseeable loss studies, corporate vulnerability assessments, insurance purchasing/risk transfer, and captive insurance development.

Business Continuity Management — Ensure that your business can survive a catastrophe by developing a recovery plan to aid in quickly restoring essential services and determining the appropriate procedures and necessary tasks associated with storm watches, warnings, and emergencies.

Emergency Response Planning — Organize a team to prepare your facility for an approaching storm and direct preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Safeguard employees, visitors, and the public, and specify primary and back-up emergency operation centers.

Supply Chain Risk Consulting — Identify, quantify, and prioritize critical weather-related risks that may impact your supply network and develop strategies to mitigate the exposure.

Claims Consulting — Provide pre-loss valuation, property damage, contents and time element calculation, claim preparation, business interruption and extra expense, fidelity and stock loss claim calculations, appraisals, insurance litigation, and expert testimony.

Property Loss Consulting — Create a loss management plan that includes the scope of property damage and reinstatement costs and develop a loss prevention plan that establishes mitigation strategies and a location-specific emergency response plan.

The recent tornadoes in the central and southern United States illustrate all too clearly the wanton destruction a severe storm can wreak with little warning. Such storms take their toll in human lives and property damage and can severely disrupt a company's ability to maintain operations, deliver products to customers, and meet shareholders' expectations.

Although storms can be monitored using Doppler radar and other sophisticated technologies, their precise course can be nearly impossible to predict. Unanticipated atmospheric changes can cause hurricanes, for example, to quickly reverse direction, head toward a coastline, and inflict serious damage on a business’s property.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact us.