The strong winds and high tides of Hurricane Irene have left behind a devastating reality of what many businesses owners feared would be a contributing factor to the worsening of an already weakened economy: big financial losses. The numbers are still being assessed, but economists say losses are expected to reach $12 billion – not encouraging news considering insurance will likely pay only $3 billion.?
Aside from the flood damage, wrecked roads and power outages that many are still facing, business owners stand to lose much ? especially if they are in the tourism business. With Labor Day around the corner, there?s no telling whether or not tourism-dependent towns will rebound in time for the holiday festivities.
Although it?s hard to anticipate the extent of damage that can occur when disaster strikes, there are measures small business owners can take to ensure some semblance – no matter how minimal – of emergency preparedness. It can mean the difference between getting your businesses back up and running or staying down. A recent Gallup poll shows that only 37 percent of businesses owners have a recovery plan in place should disaster strike and further studies show that 15 to 40 percent of businesses don?t recover at all.
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