Step Up Your Facility's Flooding Plan in 2017

5 Key Factors For Stepping Up Your Self-Storage Facilities Flooding Plan

The threat of flooding at your self storage property can vary depending on the geographic location, but this natural disaster doesn’t play favorites. Did you know that floods are considered the #1 natural disaster in the United States? It’s a staggering statistic, and the threat of water damage to your facility shouldn’t be taken lightly.

As part of our series on upgrading your self storage facility in 2017, we’re going to take a look at some ways you can improve your disaster preparedness plan so you can face the threat of a flood with professionalism and readiness.

Keep up with regular maintenance.

The best way to prevent flood damage at your facility is to make sure there isn’t a gap in the maintenance schedule. Are the drains cleaned out and working as they should? Also, if the exterior doors and windows aren’t properly sealed, you could be in for a world of trouble when heavy rains come to town.

Save the computers!

As an incoming storm gets closer to your facility, you should consider backing up the content of your computer system onto an external hard drive so you don’t suffer the loss of valuable data. Before evacuating, you should also move your computer system to a second floor if possible, or on a high shelf to avoid potential water damage. It’s also important to create electronic copies of your insurance documents, lease and any other important information to make sure you’re covered if something happens to the original paper files.

Invest in a backup generator.

If and when the power goes out at your facility, you don’t want to be left in a panic. Backup generators can quickly kick into action when the power fails so that neither your wine storage temperatures nor your security systems have to miss a beat.

Cover up the valuables.

It could be a nice gesture for your facility to provide plastic tarps to your tenants so they can add an extra layer of protection to their items in the storage units if any water manages to creep in. This small favor could go a long way to improve your tenant/client relationship, especially during the stressful time of storm preparation.
Gather your information. Even if you follow all the rules in the book for crisis prevention, the weather can still do what it pleases. Make sure you have the phone numbers and contact information for all the companies you might need to reach, such as the gas company, electric company and insurance agent.

Remember that the key factors for dealing with a natural disaster are communication and planning! Stay in contact with your tenants on a regular basis so that when the time comes to prepare for the worst, you can get in touch with them quickly and easily.