Prepare to Evacuate
Evacuation preparation for businesses within blocks of the river, a damn, levee, flood wall or a flood gate it is recommended to plan for the worse. The National Weather Service reports the Arkansas River has reached 40.15′ and predict it will crest at approximately 42.5′ by Wednesday evening. In addition, our local forecast calls for thunderstorms and rain beginning tonight through Thursday.
Recommended Actions for Evacuation Preparation:
1) Ensure that your off-site backup of all applications and data is current.
2) Servers and computers that are below street level may be at risk from rising ground water.
3) If flooding is eminent, servers and computers that are required to operate your business should be powered down and off the floor. If possible, all mission critical servers, computers, monitors, keyboard/mice, switches, routers, and wireless access points should be included in your evacuation plan.
4) If your disaster operations plan includes an alternate location from which to operate your business, confirm the location is ready.
5) If your business must evacuate, take supplies and documents needed to operate for several days. We do not advise returning for items forgotten. Examples include:
- Printer Paper
- Deposit Bag
- P.O. Box Keys
- Security/Key FOB used for two factor authentications to bank accounts
- Account/PIN codes needed to make changes to your phone service
- General Liability Insurance (agent name and phone number)
- Hard copy files of work in process, not available on your computer system
6) Ensure you have established a plan of communications with both your essential and non-essential staff members. Remember on-site phone systems may be impacted. This will render normal call-in messaging ineffective.
7) Notify your general liability insurance provider if your business will be operating from an alternate disaster operation location.
If you need assistance do not hesitate to call! Clients impacted by flood damage who need after hours support, we are waiving the $100 emergency after hours fee, which normally applies if a business is not on a Support Agreement providing 24 x 7 coverage. You may reach us after hours by calling the number on your Support Agreement, or by calling our office at 918-436-1830.