Isaias is currently a tropical storm with the potential to become a Hurricane impacting Florida’s West Coast Businesses. Business interruption from Hurricanes can be detrimental and is not limited to flooding or property damage. Prolonged power outages, supply chain disruptions, and the evacuation of key personnel are common scenarios during major storms. Planning and preparing for these events can help companies continue operations and salvage market share. While it’s important to keep an eye on Isaias, it’s critical that you have a response plan for any type of business interruption your company may face.
Isaias – The Worst-Case Scenario for Florida Businesses
The track of Isaias has been pushing West the last several days. The models on July 28th showed potential for the storm to miss Florida and the United States altogether. On July 29th, the storm was showing a route that runs along the West Coast of Florida. Today, July 30th, as of 800AM the models show East Coast of Florida or potentially missing Florida altogether.
A Hurricane threatening South Florida presents challenges beyond property damage. South Florida is one of the top 5 most difficult and challenging places to evacuate. With Hurricane Irma there were countless accidents and people that ran out of fuel waiting in line to evacuate. The high-density population of the East Coast of Florida in general makes accessing these areas difficult even without Hurricane Damage. Combining evacuations with the current Coronavirus Pandemic going on in Miami and Fort Lauderdale will cause even further complications. If you have a COVID-19 Recovery Plan and a Hurricane Plan for your business it is a good idea to go through each of them together.
Storm surge from a Hurricane is almost always worse on the section that is blowing onshore. Given the right conditions, a storm that follows the Gulf Coast closely may cause severe flooding along the entire coast. This combined with high winds would result in severe power outages and major road blockages for coastal areas. A widespread disaster situation like this would spread emergency crews and contractors thin making a fast recovery near impossible, especially for unprepared businesses.
