{"id":28865,"date":"2021-09-09T13:44:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T20:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paladinpointofsale.com\/retailscience\/home\/?p=28865"},"modified":"2025-09-22T15:11:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:11:04","slug":"summer-catastrophes-show-importance-of-disaster-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paladinpointofsale.com\/retailscience\/home\/summer-catastrophes-show-importance-of-disaster-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Catastrophes Show Importance of Disaster Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.29)” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title meta=”off” featured_placement=”background” _builder_version=”4.16″ title_font=”|700||on|||||” title_text_color=”#FFFFFF” title_font_size=”30px” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” background_blend=”darken” text_orientation=”center” custom_padding=”15%||15%” text_shadow_style=”preset2″ parallax_effect=”on” module_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”54px|0px|18.95px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” vertical_offset_tablet=”0″ horizontal_offset_tablet=”0″ hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”0″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” use_border_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

With hurricanes devastating the Gulf Coast, much of the southeast, and the East Coast, and wildfires burning communities to the ground in the west, it\u2019s too late for many businesses to prepare for the worst. However, for the rest of the small business world, these disasters are a reminder that having a crisis management and disaster plan are as vital to retail stores as having inventory and employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

September is\u00a0<\/span>National Preparedness Month<\/span><\/a>, a time dedicated to raising\u00a0awareness of how important\u00a0it is to\u00a0have a disaster\u00a0plan\u00a0and recovery plan for businesses and homes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning\u00a0from history\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With all the\u00a0debate over\u00a0whether\u00a0climate change is to blame for these disasters, communities and businesses falling to natural disasters is nothing new. The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 destroyed over 3 square miles of the city. The San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 effectively wiped out a city of roughly 400,000. Hurricane Katrina devastated\u00a0the Gulf Coast\u00a0in 2005\u00a0doing over $125 billion in damage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing your disaster plan\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A story\u00a0recently posted\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>HomeImprovementRetailer.com<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>offers some simple and effective tips on how businesses can prepare for natural disasters. As it\u00a0chronicles, most businesses \u2013 58%\u00a0\u2013\u00a0don\u2019t have disaster plans to help them\u00a0stay open or\u00a0recover\u00a0from temporary closure. That\u00a0can be fatal for small businesses. The Small Business Administration says one-quarter of\u00a0small businesses\u00a0never reopen after a disaster. So, having a\u00a0comprehensive\u00a0disaster\u00a0plan is ultimately a life insurance policy for\u00a0any store.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2020,\u00a0<\/em><\/span>Retail Science<\/a><\/em>\u00a0published a story about the importance of having a crisis management plan.\u00a0It details the story of how the 2018 Camp Fire burned\u00a0down nearly all\u00a0of Paradise, California, a town of about 25,000,\u00a0and how some businesses\u00a0fared in the aftermath.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this world of digital retail transactions and records, backing up store files is one of the most important items in any disaster plan. Industry experts suggest that companies us the 3-2-1 Rule for backing up important store files.<\/p>\n