Hurricane Season

“Hurricane Season is here”
This is an important reminder to be prepared during the 2021 hurricane season.

September is historically the worst month for hurricanes in Florida, and we’ve already had one brush, with the hurricane-turned-tropical storm, Elsa, in July. Elsa was the earliest hurricane to form in the Caribbean Sea and is a reminder that these powerful storms can form when we least expect them.

So, as we venture deeper into the 2021 hurricane season, please read over these tips on how to prepare both your business and family in the event of a hurricane.

For your Business

Formulate a disaster continuity plan. 
Ask yourself:

• How will my business operate if our building is damaged during a storm?
• How can my employees work if streets or access to the workplace are closed or blocked?
• How can we provide service to our customers following a disaster?

Ensure your property is stored safely and in the event, a storm is coming.
Ask yourself:

• Are our facilities, equipment, and property safe?
• Have we backed up the data on our hard drives?
• Are we in a flood zone?
• Are the windows boarded up to help mitigate damage from debris? 

Prepare your employees.
Ask yourself: 

• Do we have the ability to work remotely if the workplace is rendered inaccessible?
• How will we communicate in the event of a disaster?
• Are my employees and their families personally prepared for the storm?

For your Family

Remember to remind your employees to formulate an emergency plan of their own, with their families, so they can be prepared in the event of a hurricane.

• Have emergency food and water supply.
• Have an emergency medical supply.
• Consider the specific needs of your family.

Ask yourself:

• Are we prepared to go days or weeks with our current medical supplies/equipment?
• In case of a power outage, how will we be able to power respirators/oxygen/dialysis machines?
• Have we prepared for any family members with special dietary needs? 

Have an evacuation plan.
Ask yourself:

• What roads will we take to get out of the area?
• Do we have a backup route in case of road and bridge closures or accesses are blocked?
• Does my family know where to meet in case we get separated?

Cyber Attacks

Cyber Attacks have been on the rise in recent years and with the Covid-19 pandemic, American businesses have seen a substantial increase in the number of employees they have working remotely. As a result, the risk of cyber-attacks has never been higher. As more employees are working from home and businesses are pivoting their operations to run online, it is important you stay vigilant and consider the cyber exposure of your business and whether you are covered in the event of a loss.

According to data from Advisen, ransomware attacks reached an all-time high in Q4 2020. The focus of these ransomware attacks shifted from the public administration and education services sectors, in 2019, to over half of the attacks targeting health care, manufacturing, and public administration, in 2020.

Another factor to consider with cyber liability, aside from the direct cost to your company, is that of third-party liability. In the insurance industry, we are seeing a large increase in the number of lawsuits raised after a ransomware attack due to third-party liability. For example, on May 1^st, Scripps Health, a San Diego based health care system, experienced a cyber security breach that affected all five hospitals in its system. This caused the business to partially shut down for several weeks, however, three months later, the five-hospital health network is now facing multiple class-action lawsuits alleging that Scripps Health failed to keep their clients’ medical data safe. The security breach exposed the medical information of almost 150,000 patients to hackers. The information could contain the patient’s names, addresses, D.O.B., medical records, account information, and more.