1 day Ago
NEW ORLEANS — We’re nearing the start of hurricane season and that means it’s time for you to get ready. It’s also time for small businesses in hurricane-prone areas to prepare. The faster small businesses get back on their feet, the faster residents can do the same.
On Monday, at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, KHOU 11 chief meteorologist David Paul spoke with Justin Noakes, executive director of BeforeDuringAfter which is a resource platform for small business disaster resilience. You can see their full interview above. The mission of BeforeDuringAfter is to help small businesses not just survive the storm but thrive after it’s over.
The company has a centralized hub of resources for small business owners that emphasizes helping the employee first. “Take care of their employees is the number one priority because you can't open up any business without your people,” Noakes said. “So how do you prepare your people for natural disasters, any type of incident that may occur, and then how do you get your business back open as soon as possible, really allowing you to provide those critical commodities and services to the communities you support?” Noakes’ company has a 10-point emergency checklist that he created for business owners who don’t have the time for full-scale planning.
He said it provides a list of immediate actionable steps business owners can take. The site also has risk assessments, how to get local emergency alerts, a business continuity plan, insurance guidelines and how to file a claim. You can learn more about BeforeDuringAfter at the company's website .
We also have David Paul’s full interview with Noakes above on this page. Chief Meteorologist David Paul is reporting from the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans this week. Watch for his reports on KHOU 11 News.
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