Preparing Facilities for Hurricane Season: A Facility Maintenance Services Perspective
Hurricanes pose a serious threat to coastal communities and nearby areas. Recent years have also shown that storms are intensifying more rapidly and causing greater damage, making it essential for facilities to prioritize early planning. For facility and operations managers, this means shifting from reactive measures to proactive planning, which includes safeguarding assets, prioritizing employee safety, minimizing operational downtime, and ensuring well-coordinated preparedness across all sites. These shifts require facility and operations managers to approach hurricane preparedness with a strategic mindset, prioritizing employee safety, minimizing operational downtime, and coordinating planning across all sites
“The staggering price of U.S. hurricanes since 2016 is over $800 billion. Starting in October 2016, the U.S. has been struck by 29 hurricanes and tropical storms that have each caused at least $1 billion in damage in the past nine hurricane seasons.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The risks are particularly high across coastal regions and hurricane-prone areas, where storm surges, flooding, and wind damage can lead to costly downtime and safety hazards. Some of the key considerations to help facilities strengthen their hurricane preparedness and response efforts this season include:
- Secure Equipment and Critical Supplies
Access to the right tools and supplies is essential for both preparation and recovery. These supplies should not only be ready ahead of time, but also sufficient to support teams in the days following the storm. Facilities should regularly check for availability and maintain an inventory of essential equipment, including generators, scrubbers, vacuums, water extraction machines, personal protective equipment (PPE), battery backups, flashlights, emergency kits, and other essential resources.
- Smart Planning and Adaptable Operations
Hurricane preparedness goes beyond creating a plan. It is also essential to build the internal capability to adapt when situations shift unexpectedly. As hurricanes approach and unfold, conditions can change rapidly, requiring flexibility in facility maintenance plans. For instance, their impact may differ from what forecasts predicted, the disruption caused within a facility may be unexpected, and road closures or power outages may last longer than planned, among other unanticipated challenges. A flexible and adaptable plan to address such uncertainties allows facility maintenance service providers to respond calmly and effectively.
- Strengthen Communications Protocols
Communicating clearly and on time before, during, and after a storm, is critical. Group alerts or messaging systems must be established along with well-defined roles for who’s responsible for sharing updates, both within the team and with external contacts. Effective communication keeps everyone aligned and also helps teams make quick, informed decisions about closures, reentry, or emergency support, even as conditions change rapidly.
- Focus on Efficient Recovery
Once a storm has passed, recovery must occur quickly, yet safely and strategically. Facilities should have a phased recovery plan that includes site assessments, prioritized repairs, and temporary service adjustments as needed.
- Year-Round Readiness
A proactive, ongoing approach to hurricane preparedness is key to minimizing potential damage. This means staying ready well before a storm appears on the forecast. Facilities should develop and regularly update emergency response plans, train employees on critical roles and safety protocols, and conduct routine site inspections to identify and address vulnerabilities.
Recovery after a hurricane requires coordination and additional resources. Having a reliable team in place before the storm hits is what makes all the difference when it’s time to restore operations. At Diversified Maintenance, we understand the complexities of hurricane preparation and recovery. With decades of experience managing janitorial and facility maintenance services nationwide, our teams are well-trained to support customers before, during, and after storms. From proactive planning and emergency response to comprehensive post-storm cleanup, we provide the expertise and resources your facility needs to stay safe and resilient through the hurricane season.
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