planning for disasters

Different Types of Calamities in Houston, Texas

Different regions have different types of calamities that affect businesses. There have been numerous disasters in Houston, Texas, in the past. For instance, the area saw two significant flooding incidents in 2015—the Memorial Day flood and the Halloween flood. Small firms were more severely impacted by the two disasters that the president declared, and they suffered more (Pohlmeyer, 2016). Storms and hurricanes are two more catastrophes that have impacted this city in the past. Additionally, businesses in Houston should be ready for terrorism, fires, and droughts, all of which have a chance of happening.

Implementing a Disaster Planning Approach

Businesses must implement a disaster planning approach to protect themselves against the effects of any type of calamity. Generally, this process entails planning to stay in business, talking to your people, and Protection of investment. The business owners must be informed of likely disasters and therefore the necessity of having a continuity plan. Employees need to be involved in the process because they will be the first to prevent or respond to a crisis before outside help can be reached (Phillips, 2015). This, therefore, calls for a crisis communication plan. The health of the co-workers should be a priority in disaster recovery. Lastly, protecting investment entails having insuring coverage, securing facilities and building, as well as enhancing cybersecurity.

Disaster Assistance for Houston Businesses

In case of a disaster at Houston, various disaster assistance can be relied upon by the businesses. These include Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), Farm Services Agency (FSA), Red Cross, AmeriCares, Catholic Relief Services, and the Texas States government (Curtis, 2016).

Adverse Impacts of Disasters on Local Businesses

Disasters could have adverse impacts on local businesses in Houston. Such impacts include loss of workforce including managers and directors who can perish in the disaster, disruption of daily operations, destruction of infrastructure, and loss of investments. If not well handled, disasters can lead to a business failure to reopen again. According to Phillips (2015), these impacts can be mitigated through setting up plans of actions in advance and following through them when the disaster occurs.

References

Curtis, C. A. (2016). Organizational Networks in Times of Crisis: Lessons from Katrina. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management.

Phillips, B. D. (2015). Disaster recovery. CRC press.

Pohlmeyer, T. M. (2016). The Importance Of Radio During Emergency Situations: 2015 Central Texas Floods (Doctoral dissertation, The Honors College).