Hurricane season has begun and the time to be prepared is before a storm forms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Everyone who lived in the Valley in 1967 remembers Hurricane Beulah, the widespread flooding and the 100 mph gusts felt even in Hidalgo County. Category II Hurricane Dolly in 2008 battered and flooded Harlingen and parts of Cameron County. And 2010 was a disruptive hurricane season for Rio Grande Valley residents, even though Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm #2 bypassed us. Torrential rains pushed the Rio Grande and diversion spillways to flood stage for more than a month. Then Tropical Storm Herminie blew through Brownsville.

So, are you feeling lucky this year? Did you and your business take any of last year’s lessons to heart? If you are now a little wiser and want to be more prepared for the 2011 hurricane season, you can take steps to help your business weather a disaster.

The ability to manage emerging risks and to bounce back from disruption has been identified as a competitive differentiator of companies and countries alike. One study showed that fifty percent of businesses that were closed down for more than a week because of hurricane-related damage were closed down completely within the year.

Recently hurricane preparedness workshops, conferences and webinars hosted by cities and counties, the SBA, Valley Baptist Medical Center, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, Agility Recovery and insurance companies have addressed the most critical elements in the business owner versus nature confrontation.

Planning is Everything

An emergency plan minimizes the impact of a hurricane on your company, helping protect your assets along with your connection to customers. A good plan also positions you for recovery. Free templates and checklists for businesses and families are available online at preparemybusiness.org, texasprepares.org, and ready.gov.

“This year in particular the word on the street is getting a little bit louder about preparedness,” said Matt Baker, Emergency Management Coordinator for Doctors Hospital at Renaissance. He is the only person holding that position full-time in any regional hospital, and has set up conferences bringing together Hidalgo County cities, EMS groups and hospitals to establish good relationships before an emergency.

“Communication is the most important thing,” Baker said. To communicate, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance uses the VOLO system which within five minutes blasts a message to designated personnel in multiple ways: text message, office phone, cell phone and email out system. “It tracks them everywhere and they have the information.” Baker’s advocacy has prompted county, city and other hospitals to adopt the VOLO system. He noted that the hospital uses microwave towers for backup communication. The Alabama and Missouri tornadoes decimated communications towers to the extent that recovery efforts were mainly coordinated through text messages.

Although Doctors Hospital runs emergency exercises throughout the year, Hurricane Alex led the facility to activate its emergency plan last year. That shifted the hospital into an alternate operating mode, Baker explained, and the top eight people met and determined how to address the event, set time limits and then coordinated with local, regional and state partners.

“Once you have a plan, trust it and exercise it,” Baker said. Following an exercise, review and finetune the plan. Are more backup personnel required when a disaster’s aftermath stretches for days instead of hours?

Nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and adult day cares are required to have emergency plans and contracts with bus companies and ambulances to enable them to evacuate and shelter patients, according to Harlingen Fire Chief Mike Rinaldi and city emergency management coordinator. “At this time of year we meet with all the nursing homes and a patient census is sent in every two weeks.” Voluntary evacuation for medical needs can begin as early as 72 hours prior to the tropical winds’ arrival.

Watching the Weather

This hurricane season could look a little like last year’s since some of the same conditions exist, according to Warning Coordinator Meteorologist Barry Goldsmith of the National Weather Service in Brownsville. La Niña is only one of the factors conducive to hurricane development this season. In addition, we are in the middle of a 30 year cycle that brings more hurricane activity.

“Don’t focus on the exact storm track forecast,” Goldsmith advised, since storms stay within the cone of uncertainty only 67 percent of the time. While the accuracy of storm tracking has improved, predicting the strength of a storm is less precise, he added. Clues to developing storm strength are the storm’s movement into warmer waters and less wind shear. While eight hurricanes are projected this year, it only takes one to make the season memorable or miserable.

“Dolly taught us a lesson: don’t underestimate a Category II hurricane,” said Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos. “People need to take responsibility for themselves and not wait for the government to tell them what to do. Everyone should develop their own plan.” Dolly demonstrated, among other things, that gas stations and banks are basic services that need to have backup power sources. It also confirmed that people are reluctant to evacuate, that not many people have registered with the 211 system for evacuation transportation and that accommodations were needed for pets.

During a hurricane, you can count on one thing: emergency responders will not to come to your aid during the most dangerous conditions. Hospitals must be prepared to be self-sustaining for a minimum of 96 hours. More realistically, they should be prepared for five to seven days without water and power, said Ingrid Steinbach, Emergency & Trauma Services Director at Valley Baptist Medical Center Brownville. “You have to be able to stand alone. It’s shocking initially. It forced us to work together more closely (with other hospitals.)”

Post Storm

In the storm’s aftermath, pre-positioned assistance assets have to wait for the storm to pass them before they can come to the Valley. First, TexDOT has to approve the opening of the roads and then AEP crews do assessments of the damage. Selected businesses are expected to participate in the hurricane recovery effort: fuel companies, grocery chains with huge communications/logistics trailers, banking facilities and pharmacies.

A business’ emergency plan should delineate which employees are essential to restore critical business functions. How are you going to get evacuated personnel back to work if their houses are damaged? The plan should cover what you will do if your building is damaged, such as carrying on in a mobile office, shifting operations to a sister company or furloughing employees. Isla Grande Hotel on South Padre Island was well-supplied with food and water during Hurricane Dolly when it sheltered employees. Those employees were involved in the clean-up of the property, and Isla Grande Hotel was among the first to reopen.

If a storm hit today like Beulah did, Judge Cascos predicted the Valley would be underwater. “I don’t think the levees can handle it,” he said, recalling that Katrina’s main damage resulted from failed levees. The mantra is Shelter from hurricane winds; Run from hurricane water – storm surge and inland flooding. Don’t become one of the businesses that Mother Nature closes down. Take the time to make an emergency plan for your business.