Disaster Recovery Journal Summer 2023

Weathering the Storm: A Guide to Business Resilience After Natural Disasters

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By LAURA SHAFER

From tornadoes and hurricanes to floods and blizzards, it’s not just the physi cal destruction of property businesses need to worry about; there is also financial harm caused by power outages, data loss, supply chain disruptions, and other consequences of natural disasters. After a disaster, 40% of small busi nesses never reopen, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Of those that do manage to reopen, 25% end up failing within a year.

usinesses in the U.S. and around the world are increasingly vul nerable to extreme weather related disasters. The numbers are more shocking than you may realize.

Meanwhile, around two-thirds of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) impacted by natural disasters are forced to shutter their operations one year later. With the increased frequency of these incidents due to climate change, busi nesses must make sure they cannot only withstand the impact of a disaster but recover quickly with minimal damage. Sadly, only 54% of organizations have a company-wide disaster recovery (DR) plan in place – and that’s just the first

In 2022, there were 18 weather and climate disasters in the U.S. which cost a billion dollars or more – the third highest on record. All told, they caused more than $165 billion in damages. There were at least 29 of these events worldwide.

32 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SUMMER 2023