Disaster Recovery Plan for Natural Disasters

Does your company’s security protocols include a disaster recovery plan? In late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey ravaged through many cities in Southeast Texas and Louisiana. Some experts predict the damages from Hurricane Harvey will be about $190 billion. This could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Many commercial real estate properties were devastated by the flooding and damaging winds. Will your executive and security teams be ready if your property is flooded or your buildings are damaged by high winds? What will you do if your staff isn’t able to get on-site?

Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast with destructive winds and record-breaking rainfall. One of the most devastated cities was Houston, Texas. Rainfall exceeded 50 inches in some areas. As a result, Houston was hit with catastrophic floods and property damage. Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, issued a mandatory curfew from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am within city limits. Other Houston-area cities also issued mandatory curfews. The curfew was to help prevent crime and guard against looters.

Thieves can steal from and damage abandoned homes and businesses. This leads to even more financial losses.

How to Create a Disaster Recovery Plan

Hurricane Harvey proves disasters can and do happen. Businesses lost critical time and money due to property damage and downtime. Many organizations and businesses can’t afford the damages. A disaster recovery plan can enable companies to prepare for inclement weather conditions, limit damage, and recover quickly from natural disasters, data security breaches, fires, and other emergencies.

What to Include in a Disaster Recovery Plan

The ultimate goal of a disaster recovery plan is to protect assets such as data and equipment, provide property security, and restore business operations as fast and easy as possible. It should also be able to alleviate employee and customer worry.

Here is a list of mission-critical employees and their job functions. There should also be multiple points of contact.

1. 1. Have a designated person to coordinate the overall plan for each department
   2. Create a prioritized list of functions and departments that should be restored
   3. Create an inventory of and a specific location for company data, physical assets, including essential equipment like computers, servers, routers, networking equipment, security cameras, and NVRs, and a plan to replace equipment if it gets destroyed
   4. Have a list of critical services, their providers, and control/access points for internet access, electricity, and lighting
   5. Design a property security plan in the event that normal security such as fences and security guards are no longer effective or available. Also, include the on-site staff and security personnel who cannot be on the property
   6. Name a designated off-site location for recovery efforts
   7. Create a plan to transfer and evacuate employees to an off-site location
   8. Have a plan to update employees with new information

Surveillance cameras and live video monitoring can be an effective aspect of a disaster recovery plan. Live video surveillance can watch what is happening on a property remotely. Trained security operators can provide property status updates and crime reports to points of contact and local police.

Stealth Monitoring is the leader in remote video surveillance in Canada and the U.S, with over 400 employees, 11 offices, and 3 live video monitoring control centers. Stealth’s proactive video monitoring watches over 17,000 IP and CCTV security cameras. Our security solutions feature advanced technology and can detect and deter crime while reducing security guard and other expenses. Our remote monitoring service can reduce or even replace security guards at a fraction of the cost. A remote surveillance operator can see suspicious activity, activate a speaker warning, and call the local police.

Please call toll-free (855) STEALTH or contact us today for more information to protect your outdoor assets. Visit the Stealth website to see real arrest videos at construction sites, multifamily apartments, shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses, auto dealerships, and other commercial real estate properties.