How To Prepare Your Business for a Hurricane

Is your business prepared when a tropical storm hits? Hurricanes destroy residential neighborhoods and negatively impact local businesses and the economy.

Our guide to protecting your business from a hurricane provides step-by-step instructions on training your employees, how storms affect your bottom line, and what supplies should be stocked up in the days leading up to the hurricane.

When is Hurricane Season?

Officially, the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November. 

Expect a wild 2025 hurricane season this summer and fall. Researchers are predicting 13 to 18 named storms for the Atlantic hurricane season, with 9 of those expected to become hurricanes, and 3 to 5 reaching major hurricane status (Category 3 or higher). 

Even one hurricane can have massive ramifications. In 2024, Hurricane Beryl caused at least 42 deaths and up to $32 billion in damages in Texas.

The previous year, Hurricane Idalia resulted in 12 deaths and over $3.6 billion in damages in Florida. Hurricane Ian, in 2022, was the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history, causing over 150 deaths and $112 billion in damages.

In areas where hurricanes most commonly occur, it’s more important than ever to be prepared for hurricane season before a threat is issued in your area.​

As we say at LifeSecure, “Shop before, not after.”

Essential supplies such as water and nonperishable food items sell out quickly when people panic. 

Once news of a hurricane reaches your local area, people will go into a shopping frenzy to ensure they have all the supplies needed to endure the storm.​
You will be ahead of the game if you get all your supplies before a hurricane threatens. Let’s break down what to put on your list and inside your hurricane survival kit.

Hurricane Preparedness for Businesses

Business owners should consider the impact of a hurricane on their operations, finances, and efficiency. 

Effective hurricane preparedness safeguards physical assets such as buildings, equipment, and inventory while minimizing operational disruptions. If you’re in an area prone to frequent hurricanes, plan for business continuity by creating robust disaster recovery protocols.

These may include detailed, actionable plans for maintaining critical functions and services during interruptions.

Implement strategies to enable critical business activities to continue, even in a reduced capacity, such as establishing remote work setups for employees and providing secure, cloud-based access to essential business systems. 

Another important factor is to keep your staff well-informed and trained on hurricane preparedness plans.

The Startling Impact of Hurricanes on Your Business

When a disaster strikes, local businesses can be devastated. According to FEMA, around 40% of companies do not reopen after a natural disaster such as a tornado or hurricane.

If those businesses do survive, it can take a considerable amount of time for them to recover. The local economy in Texas took 15 months to show signs of recovery following Hurricane Harvey, with sectors such as retail and real estate being the most severely affected.

Hurricanes can have a profoundly harsh economic impact on both local and national scales. Hurricane Ian, for instance, significantly disrupted Florida’s economy, shaving an estimated 1.5-2.0 percentage points off the state’s real GDP growth in the third quarter following the storm. The broader affected area, encompassing nearly 60% of Florida’s output, highlights the extensive financial stakes​.

Consider how hurricanes lead to substantial federal recovery efforts, reflective of the scale of economic disruption and the need for robust preparedness measures. 

Following Hurricane Ian, federal support totaled approximately $8.7 billion, comprising substantial funds for business loans, grants, and infrastructure repairs.

Hurricane Sandy resulted in power outages affecting over 8 million customers across 21 states, leading to significant business losses and closures.

Understanding the need for a comprehensive hurricane disaster plan helps your company stay afloat in even the most dire circumstances.

How Hurricanes Affect Your Business Financials

The cumulative damages from hurricanes in the U.S. since 1980 have exceeded $1.3 trillion, with tropical cyclones being the costliest type of weather disasters, averaging $22.8 billion per event​.

Depending on the location of the impact, specific hurricanes have had profound localized economic impacts. Hurricane Harvey displaced over 30,000 people and caused economic damages estimated between $70 and $108 billion.

Other industries, such as agriculture, also suffer extensive damage. One storm can lead to significant crop production losses and disruptions to the food supply chain. Following Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico experienced a significant decline in coffee production, which had a cascading effect on local economies and export revenues.

There are also the long-term economic implications of hurricanes to consider. Studies using nightlight imagery to assess economic activity post-hurricane have shown that local economies can experience income growth reductions of around 1.5% in the hurricane year, with varying recovery speeds based on the severity of the strike and the resilience of the local economic infrastructure.

Hurricanes and tropical storms often wreak havoc on local economies in the short term, but it’s important to understand that being ill-prepared may also cause long-term damage.

Should You Evacuate or Shelter in Place During a Hurricane?

When a hurricane is heading in your direction, you have two options: evacuate immediately or shelter in place. Most people will make this decision based on what local authorities recommend. 

LifeSecure’s rule is “When in doubt, get out.” If you’re unsure how hard the hurricane will hit your area or if it will avoid it altogether, it’s better to be safe than sorry and evacuate just in case.

Plan to evacuate if you’re in a vulnerable area that cannot withstand hurricanes’ violent winds, torrential rains, and dangerous water levels. 

Being honest about whether or not your business building is a safe option is essential. You cannot change your mind once the high winds and accompanying water trap you. If you do not evacuate early, there comes the point where any attempt to evacuate only exposes you to greater risk.

Many have lost their lives by staying in unsafe shelters when they would have survived had they evacuated. Our advice: if you are going to evacuate, evacuate early.

Hurricane Safety Tips for 2025

Beyond a hurricane preparedness checklist, you should know some basic hurricane safety tips to protect you and your family from incoming storms. These recommendations range from creating an evacuation plan to protecting important documents.

Stay Informed

The greatest asset during a hurricane is information. Whether through the news, radio, or online, staying updated with the latest information is key to successfully surviving a hurricane.

Local television stations warn and inform viewers about evacuation locations, but power outages are common during a storm.

To protect yourself, purchase a battery-operated radio. Most radio stations stay up during storms and provide the latest news. Rather than trying to fight cell towers, use a portable radio to protect the ones you love.

Create an Evacuation Plan

During an emergency, instinct and memory kick in. If you and your family develop and practice an evacuation plan before a disaster, everyone will have the information and skills needed to escape to safety as quickly as possible.

First, you should identify where you would go during a hurricane evacuation and how you would get there. Schools, churches, and other government buildings are often designated as hurricane shelters, so be prepared beforehand for where you should go.

Don’t overlook friends and family out of the area. They may provide more comfort than a hurricane shelter.

Backup Data and IT Infrastructure

Regularly back up all business data to secure locations or cloud services to prevent loss during power outages or flooding. Consider using uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) for critical hardware to provide temporary power if the electricity goes out.

Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Beyond personal safety and evacuation plans, businesses need specific strategies to continue operations during disruptions. 

These include identifying critical operations, establishing alternative supply chain options, and telecommunication arrangements for remote work.

Review Insurance Coverage

Regularly review your insurance policies to ensure they cover all potential hurricane damages, including flood damage, often not covered under standard policies. 

Business interruption insurance can cover losses during downtime caused by hurricanes.

Keep Important Documents Safe

Birth certificates, social security cards, and other important documents are safe from water damage by keeping them in plastic bags or safes. 

While it is possible to get copies of these forms, during the stress of repairing damages and everything else that comes with the aftermath of a hurricane, keeping necessary documents away from the water allows you to worry about one less thing.

Build an Emergency Preparedness Kit

Don’t get caught off guard during a disaster. Building an emergency preparedness kit protects you and those you love from serious injuries, dehydration, and lost communication.

Whether it’s a NOAA radio or cases of safe-to-drink water, build your hurricane preparedness kit first before everyone rushes out to the store.

To make things easier, LifeSecure has everything you need to keep you and your family safe this hurricane season.

Read below to learn more about our hurricane safety products.

Hurricane Preparedness Checklist 2025

Whether you choose to evacuate or shelter in place, it’s best to prepare with a hurricane survival kit that will keep you safe in either scenario. 

Whether you choose to evacuate or shelter in place, it’s best to prepare with a hurricane survival kit that will keep you safe in either scenario. 

Goals of a hurricane kit checklist:

• Acquire medical and first aid supplies needed to treat injuries
• Make sure you have the food, water, and materials required to shelter in place for several days without assistance
• Be prepared to leave your place of business before the storm with an evacuation plan and all materials you will need to evacuate

What Should You Put in Your Hurricane Preparedness Checklist?

An essential part of creating a hurricane kit checklist is ensuring you have all the needed materials. These materials should help you prevent serious injuries and shelter in place for at least 72 hours without emergency assistance.

At the very least, every hurricane emergency kit should include supplies such as breathing protection, first aid, and water and food. These will help you get through the storm and its aftermath.

Of course, the list doesn’t end there. 

Here, we’ve made it easy for you to create your hurricane prep list. These are the items we suggest you include in your hurricane kit:

Incident management:

• Laminated evacuation plan
• Laminated shelter in place plan

Protection and shelter:

• Face masks
• Emergency thermal blankets
• Emergency ponchos
• Roll plastic sheeting
• Roll duct tape

Turning off utilities and other tasks:

• Multifunction tools include pliers, wire cutters, screwdrivers, can openers, bottle openers, utility knives, etc.
• Pair leather-palmed work gloves

Communication and light:

• Metal whistles with lanyard
• AM/FM radio with two sets of AAA batteries
• Flashlight with two sets of D batteries
• 12-hour light sticks
• LED Safety Signal
• Notepad
• Pen
• Waterproof document pouch

Hydration and nutrition:

• Water bag for carrying, purifying, and storing water (1 gallon per person)
• High-calorie food bars (at least 6 per person)
• Emergency water pouches
• Water purification tablets

Medical, hygiene, and sanitation needs:

• Personal First Aid packets
• Family First Aid kit
• First Aid Guide
• Biohazard bags
• Toilet paper roll
• Moist towelettes
• Vinyl gloves

Evacuation:

Medical, hygiene, and sanitation needs:

• Personal First Aid packets
• Family First Aid kit
• First Aid Guide
• Biohazard bags
• Toilet paper roll
• Moist towelettes
• Vinyl gloves

Download Our Hurricane Checklist Now

It is difficult to predict how hard a hurricane will hit your town. However, one of the best qualities of hurricanes, as opposed to other natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, is that hurricanes usually give warnings. If you find out a hurricane is heading in your direction, you must do the right thing and prepare your family, employees, and friends.

Remember, preparedness is readiness in any natural disaster.

Fill out the form to download a free, printable version of the hurricane preparedness kit checklist →

*Full color and black-and-white versions of the printable checklist will be delivered to your email inbox.

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David Scott

David co-founded LifeSecure in 2005, just a few months before Hurricane Katrina taught everyone that one can go hungry and thirsty in America and even die before help arrives. For over a decade David has focused on developing and discovering superior emergency and disaster survival solutions - kits and supplies. He has trained community groups in emergency preparedness, helped non-profit organizations prepare emergency kits for needy individuals, conducted community emergency response exercises, and developed emergency plans for non-profit organizations. David makes an ongoing study of how best to prepare for and respond to various natural and man-made disasters, and his mission has been to help others “live Life SECURE” every day by preparing for what may come someday.

Learn more about David.