Avoiding Common Pitfalls In Your Winter Wonderland

Published December 15, 2014

Snow, wind, ice, frigid temperatures – brrrrrrr. Last year, the winter season in the United States was harsh. In fact, there were 26 large storms named by the media. Winter is upon us once again and we appear to be in for another rather brutal season; now is our chance to look back and glean lessons learned from previous years.

Remember Winter Storm Atlas? Well, unless you live in Beulah, WY or Spearfish, SD you probably didn’t pay much attention to the storm, or you forgot about it because the media moved on to something more ‘news worthy’.

A quick recap of Atlas - The storm dropped up to 5 feet of snow between Oct 3-5, 2013, created winds up to 71 mph, ended the lives of over 60,000 animals (mostly livestock), and caused millions of dollars in damages.

One particular situation comes to mind during Winter Storm Atlas, The Collapse of TMone. While it didn’t get much publicity, it is worth remembering as there is a major lesson to be learned. In a town of 11,000, TMone’s $41 million call center facility (employing 5% of the population) collapsed under the weight of the snow. Generally, when an organization this size loses a facility, they throw in the towel and move to another city able to accommodate their operations. 5% of Spearfish’s tax-paying citizens could have lost their jobs that day, so thank goodness TMone had a plan for alternate workspace and call center capability redundancies through Agility Recovery. The major lesson learned in this scenario is that TMone had a physical disaster recovery plan in place and could obtain alternate workspace and desperately needed assets – the plan was executable.

Any organization, rural or urban, needs to have a comprehensive plan for their people to continue working the day after a storm. But it’s not just collapsed buildings, frozen pipes, fallen power lines, and lost productivity to worry about when disaster strikes – it’s also about staying in business. TMone’s successful recovery was contingent upon keeping their doors open and having a place for their employees to work after the storm; in turn, they saved the livelihood of not only their employees, but also a large portion of the livelihood of their community.

Disasters happen every day, sometimes large and sometimes small, so if your organization or your clients’ organizations don’t have a place to work tomorrow, there is a 55% chance of not recovering following a snow storm or the impending flood resulting from rapidly melting snow.

So pause, take a minute to answer this question, “Where would our people work tomorrow”?

If you can’t confidently answer this question, NOW is the perfect time to address this concern. Don’t wait, don’t put it on the back burner, don’t think it won’t happen to you, don’t underestimate how vulnerable your business is, and don’t think that a Natural Disaster is the only thing going to affect your business (70% of the disasters Agility responds to are isolated events – Not related to Mother Nature).

If we learn nothing from disasters, we as a nation will not be able to rest easy. There ARE low-cost/no-cost options out there, perhaps you just don’t know about them. I can help you find those options; that’s what the partnership between AAA and Agility is all about – helping your firm get answers to dire problems that need to be addressed.

Most organizations, individuals, and families are not prepared to be trapped in their cars, isolated in their houses, or trapped in their offices for a long period of time when a storm hits. Food, water, warm clothes, and personal supplies should be easily accessible during the entire winter season. If you live in upstate New York, this exact scenario is fresh on everyone’s mind. With areas seeing more than 7’ of snow out of their broken windows and so many lessons to be learned collectively year after year, it’s confusing why we as a nation are not more prepared to weather the storm.

When you’re ready to understand your options, I’m here to help.

Need a winter weather preparedness checklist? CLICK HERE

What about a flood preparedness checklist? CLICK HERE

Trevor Mickelson is Agility’s CPA Solution Specialist. Too often, businesses hit with crises close for good because they are unable to respond quickly and effectively. Trevor’s mission is to help every company, employee, and their clients realize daily opportunities to prepare for disasters, protect their livelihood, safeguard their families and communities, but most importantly, continue to do what they love.