When we moved into our home years ago, a number of minor electrical jobs popped up within a few weeks of moving in:  some non-working outlets, a non-functional fan. There were also several electrical tasks we wanted done:  the installation of a gigantically giant fan in our living room and some additional floodlighting, for example. None of these were major issues, and so they lingered on the “to-do” list for a long while before we decided to hire an electrician to go ahead and knock all of them out at once.   

While he was there, it struck me that I wanted one more job done. We had long ago purchased a portable generator to deal with power outages, and in the past we’d simply run cords from the generator to power what we needed. In our new home, however, that setup was going to be inefficient due to the size of the home and the number of appliances. So, I paid him a few bucks while he was out there to install a transfer switch on my house panel. This allowed me to easily plug the portable generator in and power much of my home’s electrical demand. 

Several years went by and the transfer switch remained unused. Short power outages came and went, but were resolved within a few hours, at most, so that we did not ever need to actually power the house panel. 

But then came Hurricane Helene. And that small “just-in-case” investment saved our bacon. A seemingly minor risk-assessment decision years ago allowed us to power fridges, freezers, satellite internet, well pump, stove, and DVD player (for the kids, of course) for the weeks we went without power. Without that decision, our household would have had an exceptionally hard time coping.   

What we can predict about disasters is that they DO happen. Helene was forecast to affect our area; it was not forecast to be the worst disaster in the history of our power grid. We’ve written before about risk assessment, and in the wake of a catastrophic event like Hurricane Helene, it is helpful to do some post-storm “what could we have done better” strategic planning.   

Lots of business owners in the CSRA will be asking themselves about their IT resiliency in future incidents – whether those be cyber incidents, minor power outages, or major disasters.   

Consider some of the following: 

  • Did your backup and recovery process prevent data loss? Or do you even know yet if you have data loss? 
  • Did you have the right hardware and physical infrastructure in place? Do you have redundant or outdated hardware? Are you using the cloud as appropriate to your needs? Do you have a mapped-out support and replacement plan? 
  • Do you have the right relationship with an IT MSP (managed service provider)? On the morning Helene hit, when the power grid and ISPs in our area had been decimated, we sent a tech to every medical provider client we have. We wanted to make sure we provided necessary IT support to any vital medical processes and procedures.  
  • Were you set up to continue work operations regardless of physical location? Depending on your situation, a “deep resiliency” plan may be required in order to avoid the chaos of disasters like Helene. 

As the CSRA spends the coming weeks and months recovering from Helene, you’ll want to reflect on your risk management strategies. Maybe the next incident doesn’t cause as much chaos as Helene. But maybe it’s a cyberattack targeted specifically against your business. In any case, you want to ensure your business is resilient in the face of that next disaster so that you can responsibly care for your employees and clients.