Don’t Fool With Mother Nature

I was recently on a trip to Colorado with my wife to visit friends and family while also getting in a couple of afternoons of snow skiing. The Rocky Mountains have gotten plenty of snow this season, with some areas getting over 70 inches in the first part of March. While I believe I am an experienced driver, navigating through the winding, mountainous curves of Berthoud Pass tested my skills. As I came around a curve just a few miles outside Winter Park, Colorado, the three lanes of traffic came to a sudden halt. There was a small avalanche that covered the road a few minutes before I arrived. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

While waiting for the snow removal equipment to arrive, I was reminded of a presentation I recently attended at the ICBA conference, “Lessons Learned About Disaster Recovery and Business Interruption.” While cyber-attacks continue to be the top threat for business interruption, I was interested to learn that natural and manmade disasters — tornados, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, winter storms and earthquakes — have increased significantly globally.

A global annual record of $350 billion in destruction was recorded for 2017. And 2019 is off to a big start with the California campfire becoming the most destructive fire in history, with total damages of $16.5 billion. Personally, I don’t remember a year in northern Illinois when we’ve had more school and business closings because of the winter weather. (I hope it’s a long time before we experience 52 degrees-below-zero windchill again!)

Business continuity planning and disaster recovery are becoming more important now than ever. Do you have the ability for your staff to work remotely? Do you have a process to communicate with your staff and customers in the event of a disaster? How would you respond if a critical vendor had a disaster?

Whether you need assistance with developing a sound business continuity plan or testing your recovery process, Wipfli has experienced professionals who can help.