Don’t lose your business to a power outage, hacker disruption, fire, earthquake or other disaster. If you’re not prepared, a disaster could put you and your employees at risk, possibly shutting down your business forever.

LKC has PDF files at no cost that can assist you prior to or after an event occurs. We offer this at no cost to to those that would like them. Simply contact us at LKCcaresaboutyourbusiness@lkconsulting.net

Here are the PDF files available;

Recovery Overview

Critical Business Functions

Risk Assessment

Vendor Assessment

Emergency Communications Plan

Phone Recovery

Disaster Recovery Kit

Unique Supplies

Table Top Test

Winter Weather Preparedness

Earthquake Preparedness

Tornado Preparedness

Wildfire Preparedness

Flood Preparedness

Hurricane Preparedness

Crisis Communications Checklist

What to Take When You Evacuate

Roughly 40 to 60 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors following a disaster. But you can.

Disaster planning and preparedness can be your lifeline to staying in business. With proper education, planning, testing and disaster assistance, you will be able to stay in business through any interruption and beyond.

Disaster Planning Can Reduce Time to Recovery and Expense.

Major disasters, such as earthquakes and large-scale power outages, are rare. Smaller disasters, such as server failure, burst pipes and fires however happen every day. Companies often prepare for the worst but forget the everyday challenges, which can be just as crippling.

While a majority of large businesses have contingency plans for a pandemic or other catastrophe in place, many small to medium companies do not, which can result in their demise in the wake of a disaster, according to experts.

"Small businesses that don't have a plan in place generally don't survive after a disaster, whether it's a flood or a tornado. We see that anywhere from 40-60 percent of those that are hit like that simply don't come back to business," said David Paulison, former executive director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

He added, "The truth is that it's not that difficult to put a plan together to survive any type of catastrophic event--a disaster or something like H1N1."

Mr. Paulison said FEMA and Homeland Security Web sites have detailed steps for putting a plan together as well as practicing the plan to make sure it works.

When he was at Homeland Security, he noted, their contingency plan was practiced with employees working from remote sites to make sure they could all communicate and do their jobs.

Smaller companies are "just now beginning to figure out how to get their arms around it, and they're potentially more susceptible to events than a large enterprise."

An example is large bank with a branch closed can have customers visit another branch, whereas a small business wouldn't have the same options.

According to the 2009 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Survey from Charlotte, N.C.-based Agility:

o Ninety percent of smaller companies (less than 100 employees) surveyed spend less than one day per month preparing and maintaining their continuity plans.

o One in five (22 percent) spend no time maintaining their plans.

o Comparatively, 20 percent of larger companies (more than 100 employees) spend over 10 days per month on their continuity plans.

In exercising a plan assumptions that have been made sometimes are not valid. "It's better to find that out."

Dr. William Lang, former associate chief medical officer at the Dept. of Homeland Security, said during the conference that in preparing for the H1N1 virus, larger organizations can begin with their existing disaster plan and apply it to the H1N1 risks. Small to medium size business, however, may not have an all-hazards plan in place as a starting point.

He added that smaller businesses often don't have a risk manager employed to implement a plan. "The risk manager is the owner of the business," he said. "And how much time is [the owner] going to spend on risk management versus operating his business?"

Mr. Boyd pointed out that smaller businesses--that haven't been mandated by a regulator to put a plan in place--may perceive that implementing an all-hazards plan is too time-consuming and costly.

Dr. Lang said a roadblock to putting a pandemic plan in place is what he called "pandemic fatigue," or apathy, caused by the perception that the H1N1 virus may be a "non-event."

While the likelihood is that we may be facing a "bad flu season" rather than a full-blown pandemic, some businesses may be hit with high absenteeism rates, he observed.

He explained that the effect to businesses is different than other disasters because it affects people rather than the facility, meaning that companies need to protect their employees.

Situations that need to be planned for include:

o Employees who may have used up their sick leave.

o Contractors who may come to work sick.

o Parents who might have to stay home to care for a sick child and need to be covered for in the office.

"A pandemic doesn't have geographic lines, unlike a hurricane or earthquake," he said.

He said insurance agents and brokers can play a big part in helping smaller businesses get up to speed in this area. "This is a perfect opportunity for agents and brokers," he said, adding that some insurers give discounts for recovery plans.

When disaster strikes, having a plan and being able to put it into immediate action can mean the difference between staying open to service the needs of your customers and community or shutting down for a few days.

Following a disaster, statistics show ninety percent of companies fail within a year unless they can resume operations within five days. Having a plan can ensure that you’re back in business quickly and able to provide products and services to your community.

This is a list of current Disaster Declarations;

States	Declaration #	Incident
Nevada	13406	Severe Thunderstorms and Flash Flooding
Nevada	13406	Severe Thunderstorms and Flash Flooding
Alaska	13393	2012 Alaska Chinook Salmon Fishery Disaster
Rhode Island	13387, 13388	Rhode Island Hurricane Sandy
North Carolina	13382, 13383	Hurricane Sandy
New York	13365, 13366	New York Hurricane Sandy
New Jersey	13367, 13368	New Jersey Hurricane Sandy
Connecticut	13369, 13370	Connecticut Hurricane Sandy
Massachusetts	13348, 13349	Massachusetts Severe Storms and Flooding
Pennsylvania	13346, 13347	Pennsylvania Cheltenham Township Condominium Complex Fire
New York	13341, 13342	New York Heavy Rain and Flooding
Utah	13326, 13327	Flooding
Oklahoma	13328, 13329	Oklahoma Luther Wildfire
Oklahoma	13330, 13331	Oklahoma Multiple Wildfires
New Jersey	13305, 13306	Severe Storms and significant Straight-line Winds
Pennsylvania	13307, 13308	Apartment Building Fire in Bellefonte Borough
West Virginia	13309, 13310	Severe Storms and Straight-line Winds
Arizona/California	13288, 13289	Brawley Earthquakes
California	13290	Ocean Avenue Fire
California	13291	Chips Fire
North Carolina	13269, 13270	Severe Storms and Flooding
Mississippi	13273, 13274	Mississippi Hurricane Isaac
Louisiana	13271, 13272	Louisiana Hurricane Isaac
Oklahoma	13241, 13242	Oklahoma Freedom and Noble Wildfires
Florida	13230, 13231	Florida Severe Storms and Flooding
Minnesota	1,321,913,220	Severe Storms and Flooding
Tennessee	13215, 13216	Severe Storms, Flooding and Heavy Rain
Illinois/Indiana	1,321,713,218	Severe Storms, High Winds, Large Hail
Georgia	13213, 13214	Severe Storms and Flooding
Colorado	13196, 13197	Colorado Wildfires in El Paso and Larimer Counties, Subsequent Flooding and Mudslides
Montana	13188, 13189	Montana Dahl Fire
Indiana	13174, 13175	Indiana Severe Storms and High Winds
Montana	13170, 13171	Ash Creek Wildfire
Minnesota/Wisconsin	13156, 13157	Severe Storms and Flooding
Georgia	13110, 13111	Georgia Severe Storms and Flooding
New Mexico	13105, 13106	Little Bear Fire
Florida	13103, 13104	Tropical Storm Debby
Michigan	13101, 13102	Michigan Severe Storms and Flooding
Florida/Geogia	13087, 13088	Severe Storms and Flooding
Massachusetts	13078, 13079	Massachusetts Lake Williams Condominium Complex Fire
Louisiana	13074, 13075	Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding
Louisiana/Texas	13076, 13077	Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding
Oklahoma	13069, 13070	Oklahoma Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Hail
Kansas	13067, 13068	Severe Storms, Hail and Tornadoes
Texas	13063, 13064	Multiple Tornadoes, Hail and Severe Weather
Oregon	13060, 13061	Severe Winter Storm System
Illinois	13052, 13053	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
West Virginia	13054, 13055	West Virginia Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides
West Virginia	13044, 13045	West Virginia Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides
Tennessee	13048, 13049	Tennessee Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding
Arkansas/Missouri	13041, 13042	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Hail, High Winds, Heavy Rain, and Flooding
Alaska	13037, 13038	2012 Prince William Sound Winter Storm
Ohio	13039, 13040	Ohio Tornadoes, High Winds and Flooding
Kansas	13033, 13034	Severe Storms and a Tornado
North Carolina	13031, 13032	North Carolina Severe Storms and Tornadoes
Indiana	13035, 13036	Indiana Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes
Kentucky	13029, 13030	Kentucky Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds and Flooding
Connecticut	13024	Connecticut Major Winter Storm
Massachusetts	13021, 13022	Brookline Apartment Building Fire
California/Nevada/Oregon	13000, 13001	Washoe Drive Fire
Alabama	13002, 13003	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding
Texas	12998, 12999	Severe Storms and Flooding
North Carolina	12990, 12991	North Carolina Tornadoes, High Wind and Severe Weather
California	12981, 12982	1502 Golden Gate Fire
Alabama/Georgia	12978, 12979	Severe Storms and Tornadoes
California	12967, 12968	Los Angeles County High Winds
California	12963, 12964	Sequoia Apartment Complex Fire
Oklahoma	12955, 12956	Earthquakes
Nevada	12957, 12958	Caughlin Fire
Indiana	12949, 12950	Indiana Severe Storms and Tornadoes
Maryland	12953, 12954	Maryland Remnants from Tropical Storm Lee
Maryland	12595	Maryland Tropical Storm Lee
Mississippi	12938, 12939	Mississippi Severe Storms and Tornadoes
North Carolina	12936, 12937	Storms and Tornadoes
Virginia	12917, 12918	Virginia Tropical Storm Lee
Florida	12919, 12920	Florida Severe Storms and Flooding
Virginia	12909, 12910	Virginia Earthquake
Florida	12901, 12902	Florida Severe Storms and Tornadoes
Delaware/Maryland	12899	Flooding from Hurricane Irene
Puerto Rico	12897, 12898	Tropical Storm Maria
Massachusetts	12884, 12885	Massachusetts Severe Storms and Flooding
New Jersey	12876, 12877	New Jersey Severe Storms and Flooding
Delaware	12864, 12865	Delaware Hurricane Irene
Rhode Island	12850, 12851	Rhode Island Hurricane Irene
Virginia	12843, 12844	Virginia Hurricane Irene
Georgia	12817, 12818	Georgia Tornado
Indiana	12813, 12814	Indiana Severe Storms, Hail, Tornadoes and Flooding
Pennsylvania	12820, 12821	Pennsylvania Hurricane Irene
Pennsylvania	12822, 12823	Pennsylvania Tropical Storm Lee
New Hampshire	12811, 12812	New Hampshire Tropical Storm Irene
Massachusetts	12799, 12800	Massachusetts Tropical Storm Irene
Connecticut	12797, 12798	Connecticut Tropical Storm Irene
Vermont	12784, 12785	Vermont Tropical Storm Irene
Kentucky	12788, 12789	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
North Carolina	12774, 12775	North Carolina Hurricane Irene
New York	12776, 12777	New York Hurricane Irene
New Jersey	12780, 12781	New Jersey Hurricane Irene
Michigan	12764, 12765	Michigan Heavy Rain and Flooding
Illinois	12766, 12767	Illinois Severe Storms and Flooding
Puerto Rico	12768, 12769	Puerto Rico Hurricane Irene