Mother Nature has a nasty, nasty temper as was clearly demonstrated by the last few months around the world. So what does all this mean for security? Business Continuity Planning? General preparedness? LOTS!!!
We, that is our industry (and probably most every business planner), learned a lot about how mass evacuations - or the lack thereof - affect BCP and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans. Your plan might have been great, right until it ran into everyone else's plan (and the odd hundred thousand without a plan).
Fundamentally speaking, it's no longer good enough to have a plan, rehearse the plan, improve the plan, and keep it current. Now you have to coordinate your plan with the plans of the local and state governments. Will you still try to shelter in place? Or, will you shift operations to another regional center and just pack up and go as early as possible. It's all about cost, right? Well consider the cost of if you tried to stay in New Orleans. It took quite some time before fuel and food arrived... How much do you plan to store? How will you deal with any looters and vandals that might remain behind?
It may just be better to contract the services of a remote hotsite provider such as Recovery Point Services. There are many others and there other options similar to this as well. In some instances, funds permitting, it may just be best to "get out of Dodge." Other times it may not be possible to do so - or to continue operations remotely. Then it may just be best to be sure your Business Interruption insurance is up to date and that you have coverage for natural disasters; not to mention how much coverage that actually is.
Plan carefully and make sure your plan blends with those around you.
Don't neglect to also develop a return to normal operations plan. How will you go about getting back to your old location, or when will you start looking for a new one? What has to moved first and when is the best time to do that? Etc. ad nausium.
Good luck.
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