Business Can't Count on Levees Alone

Reprinted from Sacramento Business Journal with Permission

The best way a company can help itself recover from a disaster is to protect vital records from destruction. This year's hurricane season makes clear that businesses should update their emergency plans -- and that hesitating could mean facing the impossible task of rebuilding vital data that advance planning could have protected.

Hurricane Katrina brought the worst annihilation the Gulf Coast has seen in generations. Homes and businesses were swept away. The lessons learned are crucial for businesses in all regions, so they can minimize the liability from future disasters they probably face.

Consider Sacramento, whose geographic setting makes flooding a real danger. A major flood in Sacramento would potentially affect two main river systems, sever major interstate traffic, cause costly property damage in heavily populated areas, inundate the Capitol, and interrupt vital business and government services.

The entire state has a stake in Sacramento's success in preventing floods. Les Harder is acting deputy director for public safety at the state Department of Water Resources, which oversees the 1,600 miles of levees that provide flood control in the Central Valley and protect highways, aqueducts and pumping stations in the Delta. He makes a prediction that should be taken seriously: "If you want a city that might look like New Orleans one of these days, look at Sacramento."

Even before Katrina's wrath opened many people's eyes, the state recognized Sacramento's risk of major flooding. That's why California set up the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, to address the area's vulnerability to catastrophic flooding. The agency aims to protect homes, businesses and infrastructures on a macro level.

But it is protection by individuals on a micro level that will create a widespread feeling of preparation and security if a disaster occurs.

Business owners cannot afford to expect that levees, dams and upstream flood-control storage alone will protect them. It is their responsibility to go the extra mile to protect themselves from such destruction.

Their plans must include storing vital records in secure, fireproof and water-resistant containers; using water-resistant building materials; leaving the basement or lower floors unfinished; installing backflow valves or standpipes to prevent sewer lines from backing up; incorporating flood shields or built-up barriers for lower windows and doors; installing a sump pump system; and landscaping with native plants and vegetation to resist soil erosion.

The way a business prepares for and reacts to an emergency tests its longevity. Without advance planning, its ability to recover is greatly reduced, if not eliminated.

Van Carlisle has been president and CEO of FireKing Security Group of New Albany, Ind., since 1975.