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Lessons Learned: Are You Ready for the Next Natural Disaster?

Insurance & Risk Management

Imagine taking the next three days off from work. You don’t check your email, voice mail, or do any work. You can sleep in because customers aren’t calling; you have no appointments. So why not make it four days off instead?

Now imagine that the choice of not working isn’t because you’re on vacation. You can’t work because disaster struck your neighborhood. Don’t panic. Now that you’re thinking about disaster, let me share with you how to get ready.

I was one of the many Texans without power in sub-zero temperatures, but I consider myself lucky. I didn’t have any burst pipes and I had a gas fireplace to keep (somewhat) warm. Still my house temperature got down to almost 50 degrees. I only had power for two hours a day and it was unpredictable and intermittent.

If you run a business, you need to be ready for a crisis. This advice applies whether or not you work remotely, for yourself, or manage a team—and it especially applies to those who work for themselves out of their homes. Follow these disaster preparedness tips so you're ready the next time an emergency strikes.

Be aware of bad weather that may be coming

You can’t be oblivious to what’s around you. I used to think it wasn’t necessary to pay attention to the weather. Why notice what’s coming? I’ll see it when it happens. No more. You need to know when extreme weather is coming so you can be ready.

You’ve got to know what’s coming so you can get prepared. Be sure to have on hand the things you need before store shelves get emptied. Paying attention to weather reports won’t work for an earthquake, but it will work for tracking storms and other extreme weather.

Have certain items ready

Losing power is a real problem, especially when you have a home office. Forget candles. They are simply too dangerous. Regular flashlights are important to have; however, for reading they can create a glare, which makes reading difficult—something I learned during this Texas winter storm. Battery-operated LED lights are great because they provide glare-free light. Under a cabinet, I had a few battery-operated LED lights that I was able to repurpose and use for reading when the house was very dark.

Of course, batteries are a necessity, so be sure you have enough batteries on hand to hold you over during an emergency. Check any essential equipment and be sure it works before the disaster hits.

You might miss a hot drink like coffee or tea. Have a large thermos on hand so when and if you have power, you can boil water and keep it hot. Trust me. You will appreciate even lukewarm tea when your nerves are shot because you have been three days without consistent power and the temperature in your house drops.

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Most people rely on their cell phones for communication, and a dead battery means you are totally alone. An important disaster preparedness tip is to charge your phone if you know bad weather is coming, and keep it charged until the crisis is over. For backup, buy some cell phone power banks, or even better, solar-powered cell phone chargers.

Sites like NextDoor are great for information about power outages and breaches in water supply quality. Our city councilwoman posted there regularly about power updates/outages and other useful information like remote locations that were heated and open to the public.

Here are other items that were helpful to have on hand: Have a manual can opener, canned food items, crackers, energy bars, bottled water, and other non-refrigerated food items ready. After the crisis, the grocery shelves will be stripped. Buy before you need them.

Act now and back up

You may remember to back up your data to your hard drive every night, but to me that’s living dangerously. A remote backup is absolutely necessary when you work remotely. I use iBackup.com and backing up is an automatic process I don’t have to worry about—you set it up once and you’re covered. You want to gamble? Play the stock market. I prefer not to worry about my data.

Mindfully check on people

If you check on people, just be mindful if they have power or not. I found some people wanted to chat when they called. I had to explain that I had no power and couldn’t drain my cell phone. Keep a list of people whom you need to alert about your situation. Perhaps someone in a different area can communicate for you to keep others informed.

Preparing for disaster—now is the time

I’ve seen it happen too often, which is why I wanted to share these disaster preparedness tips with you after my own bad experience. I believe it’s only a matter of time before another emergency strikes. Yes, it’s a pain to have to deal with an unexpected disaster, but it is far better to be prepared for when the next one strikes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

RELATED: Preparing Your Emergency Sales Plan: What If You Couldn’t Work for 30 Days?

Profile: Maura Schreier-Fleming

Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of Best@Selling, a sales training and sales consulting company. She works with business and sales professionals to increase sales and earn larger profits. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. Maura focuses on sales strategies and tactics that lead to better sales results. Maura is a sales expert for WomenSalesPros. She is part of their group of top sales experts who inspire, educate, and develop salespeople and sales teams.She speaks internationally on influence, selling skills, and strategic selling at trade association and sales meetings, demonstrating how her principles can be applied to get results. She successfully worked for over 20 years in the male-dominated oil industry with two major corporations, beginning at Mobil Oil and ending at Chevron Corp. She was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and was one of Chevron’s top five salespeople in the U.S. having sold over $9 million annually. Maura writes several columns to share her sales philosophies. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power, and Entrepreneur.