A recent report published by a group of renowned climate scientists predicts that natural disasters will only grow in number and severity in the years to come. Each year, acts of nature cause billions of dollars in damages. Not only are homeowners affected by these disasters, business owners also have their property damaged and their workflow interrupted.
The days following a natural disaster are generally the hardest for a business owner. Figuring out how to work in an environment created by a natural disaster can be complex.
Read below to find out more about what you need to do in the days following a natural disaster to protect your business and employees.
1. Put Your Disaster Plan into Action
As any experienced business owner knows, having a disaster plan in place is vital. These plans provide business owners and their employees with a template of how to communicate and carry on in the event of a natural disaster.
If you have done your homework and adequately tested out your disaster plan, implementing the plan should be easy. Working with members of your management team will help you establish a command center and begin the process of reaching out to employees. Using communication tools like social media and instant messaging apps is a good idea if all of the phone lines have been rendered useless.
2. Take Pictures of the Damage You Have Experienced
As the experienced California wildfire lawyers or insurance agents will tell you, documenting the damage your building has incurred during a natural disaster is important. Having pictures of this damage will help you get the ball rolling with things like insurance claims or even lawsuits.
When developing your disaster plan, you need to assign a team member the task of recording this damaging. Ironing out these important details ahead of time will help you and your employees avoid any confusion in an already tense situation. Make sure the team member tasked with the job of recording damage only does so if they can remain out of harm’s way.
3. Contact Your Lenders
Most businesses have a number of different loans with financial institutions around the world. In the event of a disaster situation, you need to contact your lenders.
Often times, these financial institutions will work with business owners going through devastation following a natural disaster. With a simple phone call, you can get your lender to defer your payments and any late fees until your business is back up and running. Failing to make contact with your lenders may lead to lots of problems in the future.
4. Work on Getting an Insurance Claim Started
One of the biggest mistakes you can make after a natural disaster is waiting to file an insurance claim. The faster you are able to file a claim, the easier you will find it is to get a payment in a timely manner. Contacting your insurance company and letting them know about the damage you have incurred is vital.
Getting a fast payout from the insurance company can help you minimize the financial burden and losses caused by these disasters. The pictures of the damage that you have previously taken will need to be forwarded to your agent. With this visual representation of the damage, the insurance agent should be able to start a claim in a hurry.
The key to getting through a natural disaster is being organized and persistent. With an adequate disaster plan in place, you should be able to rebound from one of these disasters in no time.
