Storm coming: 72-hour IT checklist
A named storm is headed our way. Work down this page so your business can run from anywhere and reopen fast.
Guide · Hurricanes and power
Hurricane season IT guide
Do the big work before June 1, and the last 72 hours before a storm become a short checklist.
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Panama City learned in 2018 that the businesses that reopen first are the ones that planned for it. Wind and water can take your building for weeks. With a little work ahead of time, they don't have to take your business.
Before the season (by June 1)
- Backups run every night, and one copy lives outside our area, not just on a box in the server closet.
- Test a restore. Bring back one file and one whole computer, so you know it works before you need it.
- Everyone can work from home: email, shared files, the phone system on cell phones, tested from a home internet connection.
- Phone plan: who forwards the main number, to which phone, and how.
- Print an emergency contact sheet: staff cell numbers, key clients, vendors, insurance agent, landlord, internet provider account numbers, and your IT support.
- Photograph your equipment and list serial numbers for insurance claims.
- Check battery backups. Their batteries wear out every 3 to 5 years.
- Decide who makes the call to close a location, and how staff hear about it.
The one thing to get right
A backup that sits in the same building as your computers floods with them. Make sure a recent copy is kept far away, and that someone has tested bringing it back.
When a storm heads our way
5 days out
Get ready
- Confirm last night's backup ran (or ask IT)
- Check laptops, chargers and hotspots
- Draft your out-of-office message, voicemail greeting and website notice
72 to 48 hours
Take work home
- Laptops go home with staff
- Charge phones and battery packs
- Print the contact sheet
- Move equipment off the floor and away from windows
24 hours
Close up
- Run a final backup
- Shut down computers and servers properly
- Unplug everything from the wall, including battery backups
- Cover equipment with plastic, forward the phones, turn on the out-of-office message
After the storm
Reopen safely
- Never power on wet equipment
- Call IT before turning servers back on
- Power up in order: internet, firewall, network, servers, computers
- Check the first backup after reopening
Watch for storm scams
- Fake disaster-aid, insurance or contractor emails and texts asking you to sign in or pay a fee.
- Fake charities that appear the day after a storm.
- "New bank details" from a vendor while everyone is distracted. Always call back on a number you already have.
No one to call when a storm hits?
Flux Labs watches local businesses' systems before, during and after a storm, and helps them reopen in the right order. Call (850) 250-5590.
Hurricanes and power
More printables like this
After the storm: getting back online
Safety first, equipment second. Switching on too soon turns storm damage into lost data.
Power outages and battery backups
Summer storms knock the power out often here. A battery backup buys time to shut down safely, not hours of work.
Questions about anything in here?
Our team helps local businesses with exactly this every day. A 15-minute call is free.