In the News: How has your business handled disasters and emergencies?

[Pesso]

Hey Newsies,

With all of the recent storms doing damage to North American cities and towns, today we’re looking at an article from USA Today reporting on small businesses struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on handling emergencies and disasters in your business.

USA Today: Heart and soul washed away: Asheville’s small businesses struggle after Helene

The article explains that many small businesses in Asheville were devastated by Hurricane Helene, and have been struggling or unable to repair and reopen. The article follows two local businesses and their journeys through recovery from the storm. Despite all of the preparations and precautions business owners took, the storm was just too strong and damage was extensive. 

Some may take a few months to reopen, while others may never come back. Rebuilding and repairs are expensive, insurance may not cover the full cost, state and federal funds are limited, and loans can be difficult to come by. Many businesses will do anything they can to reopen, while others will move on to a new venture. The loss can be heartbreaking not only to individual business owners, but to the communities who lose them and so much more.  

If you were affected by this or other storms, please see the Square Hurricane Resources and Support post in the Community, and other business owners’ strategies for dealing with extreme weather incidents. 

We were pretty lucky with my ice cream shop in Queens, NY. We didn’t deal with any devastating weather, but we did deal with some blizzards, hurricanes, flash floods, and heat waves that took out our power and kept us closed for a few days. Luckily we never had enough damage that needed extensive repairs, so we never dealt with insurance companies to try and get things resolved. And even if we had some minor damage, we decided to pay for it ourselves rather than trying to deal with insurance. But who knows whether or not that was a good idea.

We did take some basic steps to prepare for emergencies. For floods, we had a supply of sandbags to try and stop water coming through the door, and risers to lift our freezers and storage units in the basement off the ground. We kept extra ice packs in each freezer to keep product cold during power outages, as well as battery packs and mobile hotspots to connect our registers to power and the internet for shorter outages that our business stayed open.

What’s your perspective:

• Has your business dealt with damage or closures from disasters, emergencies, fires, or extreme weather?

• How did you handle repairs, reopening, and dealing with funding either through government resources or insurance companies?

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Pesso

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance or advice specific to your business, you should consult with a qualified legal professional.

[Doran]

What’s your perspective:

• Has your business dealt with damage or closures from disasters, emergencies, fires, or extreme weather?

• How did you handle repairs, reopening, and dealing with funding either through government resources or insurance companies?

I just went through this for over a year with the storms in CA.  The historic adobe next to me collapsed in the rain and red-tagged the whole street for 6 months then blocked the street for another year with construction.  

It was awful.  Insurance covered a few weeks of Loss of Income.  Other than that I was on my own.  

I had to rent a temporary location and try to get into the building to get some inventory and supplies.  

We are back open now and slowly building back to normalcy. 

My best advice is to go over all of your insurance policies yearly to make sure they are up-to-date.  

Mine were put in place years ago before I carried so much inventory and expensive machinery.  

Find out your Loss of Income--insurance wise and what your lease says. My landlord wrote in a clause that he wouldn't use his policy until it had been a year!  My insurance only covered a short time.  That left me on the hook for MONTHS.  Also, while I didn't have to pay rent while red-tagged I did during the construction and they did still charge me CAMS for the whole time and a portion of the repairs were in that.  It was expensive.  

Now, I take home all my expensive machines if a weather system is coming through.  I block off any possible rain/flood spots but other than that there isn't much else you can do with water.  

Ohhh, and FEMA was no help since it was technically the building next door and my building wasn't damaged but the landlord owned both.... it was a confusing mess.  

Overall, if it happened again... I'd get a lawyer to negotiate it all ASAP, get out of the lease and move.  I gave the landlord the benefit of doubt and that didn't work out well for me at all.  

[Pesso]

Thanks for sharing, @Doran !

I remember you sharing this as it happened -- it all sounds so devastating. I find it so ridiculous that insurance would only cover a few weeks and that you had to cover and be out so much. I'm so sorry that it happened that way. I'm so glad that you were able to get a temporary location to keep things going and that you're now open again.

That's such a great tip to consistency check and update insurance policies with significant changes, as well as the lease for any clauses around closure. Another good call to take expensive items home with you if that's safer during storms. And even better to call in professional & legal help! 

Thank you so much and I hope things keep getting better!