CHUALAR CA – JANUARY 17, 2022: In an aerial view, flooding continued to covered much of the Salinas … [+]
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FEMA’s recently launched #WinterReady campaign—the first by the federal agency— is meant to help people across the country prepare for the coming winter weather.
The campaign, which was announced last week, is a timely reminder for companies and organizations—no matter where they are located—about the importance of preparing for severe weather that can cause costly crisis situations. In 2022, winter storms caused nearly $6 billion in insured losses, according to Aon.
A National Concern
“Harsh winters are not only a concern for states in the far north— blizzards, extreme cold and the damage to our critical infrastructure that these conditions can cause today threaten every community, everywhere across our nation,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, said in a press release. “Climate change has made severe winter weather increasingly unpredictable,”
Extreme weather can disrupt the ability of a business to operate its facilities; the arrival and departure of supplies, goods, and services; and the ability of customers to reach their physical locations,” Clifford Oliver, a former FEMA assistant administrator, said via email. He is now the principal at Nanticoke Global Strategies.
“Businesses need to have emergency plans that address these disruptions,” he advised. Otherwise, they “run the risk of experiencing significant loss of income and customers who will turn to other businesses that are more resilient. In some cases, a business will never recover from the losses they experience,” Oliver warned.
5 Action Steps
CHUALAR CA – JANUARY 17, 2022: In an aerial view, flooding continued to covered much of the Salinas … [+]
Getty Images
There are five steps business leaders should take now to prepare their companies and employees for severe winter weather,Andrea Davis, founder, president, and CEO of the Resiliency Initiative, advised via email.
- Identify your organization’s critical functions and formulate contingency plans to address disruptions to essential operations.
- Conduct an inspection of all office locations to ensure they are weather-proofed.
- Stay informed by following local emergency notifications from authorities; enroll in local emergency notification systems managed by county or local offices of emergency management agencies.
- Establish an effective process for notifying employees and others. Depending on the size of the company, consider simple methods such as manager-led private chat groups, call-down lists, or investing in a crisis notification system for larger enterprises.
- Provide employees with winter preparedness tips and resources from FEMA, the Red Cross, and other authoritative sources.
Free Resources For Businesses
FEMA and other federal agencies have several free resources that business leaders can use to help prepare for the coming winter. They include:
- A Ready Business website that can help create a preparedness plan for dealing with natural hazards and man-made risks.
- Toolkits that are customized for specific hazards, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, inland flooding, power outages and severe wind/tornadoes. The toolkits provide business leaders with a step-by-step guide to building preparedness within their organization.
- Emergency plans to help businesses understand their communications, IT, and continuity needs and to plan accordingly.
- Resources to train employees and exercises and testing materials to ensure their emergency plans will work.
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