Get help in small business disaster recovery
It’s never too early to prepare for tropical events or other unexpected disasters. The unexpected can occur at any time.
That was the message from Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District Capt. Ron Martin in discussing small business disaster recovery during the Greater Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at Charley’s Boat Hose Grill recently.
The Beach fire marshal leads the community’s Fire Prevention and Investigation Bureau and is one of only three accredited fire officers through the Center of Public Safety Excellence in Lee County.
“We are a small business community here on Fort Myers Beach, and small businesses do not do well post-disaster,” he said. “The time for discussion is this time of year.”
Whether a disaster is man-made or natural in any community, 30 percent of those small business owners never re-open their doors, Martin says.
“That is a major, major impact to any community, especially a small business community,” he said. “In a disaster situation when we are moving into the recovery phase, it also helps for the psychological well-being and the psychological healing of not only the victims but the community as a whole. The quicker we can heal as a community post-disaster, like hurricanes, and that sense of normalcy returns, the better people start feeling about themselves and look toward a brighter tomorrow.”
Martin said one of his principal jobs is community risk reduction. With regards to disaster, Beach Fire is primarily concerned with rescue, recovery and incident stabilization.
“If there any resources that our department can provide to you, you need to reach out to us and contact us,” he said. Beach Fire officials can be reached at 590-4200.
Critical data loss from a disaster can be devastating. Downloading important information on a hard drive periodically is crucial.
Martin also recommends having post-season conversations during staff meetings or monthly training sessions to discuss disaster planning with employees to develop expectations. Get to know the plan of each employee if evacuation is imminent.
“Your employees look to you for guidance,” he said. “You need to know where your employees are going to and the preferred method of contact with them. From an emergency management aspect, we want you to open your doors and be up and running as quickly as possible.”
Pre-designated tasks to key employees allow the business owner to recover quicker and open up the business sooner.
“Delegate responsibilities and tasks can get (employees) engaged so when they come to assist you, they can go immediately to work,” said Martin. “The return to normalcy rests in your hands, and people truly, truly need that when a community is affected by a large event. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with negativity when a disaster strikes. In order for a community to fully recover, we really look to all of you in this room.”
A unified command system is in place to get the message of preparedness out and to serve the community at times of need.
“There’s an interplay between your fire department, sheriff’s department and the local governments to function together to get the community prepared,” Martin said. “As that cone of uncertainty shrinks in and we are getting a better idea of what communities are going to be impacted, Lee County Emergency Management (Operations Center) activates and they start providing us resources, such as sand deliveries, sand bags, special occupant needs, determining evacuations, shelter accesses. It starts growing at a very local level.”
After disaster, reassessment is done. If catastrophic damage occurs, requests are sent to the state level for activation of state resources.
“That is when that 72 to 96 hours come into play. The message is be personally prepared from 72 to 96 hours after an event,” Martin said. “After an event you may not have immediate services. If there is mass disaster, we are going to be focusing on the immediate life threats. We are all going to need to be self-sufficient for lesser, non-immediate requests. That is why it is so important to be prepared.”
Beach residents need to take heed during mandatory evacuations.
“We are not going to come in with battering rams, knock down your doors and pull you out forcefully. We are telling you that you need to leave, because you may be on your own,” Martin said. “A mandatory evacuation communicates to everybody that we are expecting it to be so bad that we may not get to you after the fact for a long time.”