To ensure Alabama’s continued economic viability, the state encourages small to mid-sized businesses to have an all-purpose disaster plan that will help to enable businesses to return to operation after a disaster.

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The State of Alabama recognizes that the foundation of a strong homeland security program is premised on the involvement of our citizens working within their community and supported by state agencies and federal partners. ReadyBusiness is one of the citizen preparedness initiatives part of Ready Alabama. 

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A disaster is a sudden unplanned event that creates an inability for an organization to provide critical business functions for an undetermined period of time resulting in great damage or loss to that organization. Alabama’s business community is vulnerable to a number of natural disasters, including large scale disasters such as hurricanes.  According to FEMA statistics, between the years 1955—2007 Alabama averaged over one major disaster a year and ranks seventh in the nation in the number of major disasters with 46.  Of the top-ten costliest disasters in United States history eight were hurricanes and four affected the Gulf Coast. In addition to major disasters, Alabama’s businesses are vulnerable to any number of local natural or man-made events that cause a business to cease to function. 

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The ability of businesses to continue operations after a disaster is critical to the recovery of a community and the state.  Getting businesses back into operation quickly is critical to the overall recovery effort not only to make payroll but also to provide much needed services to their community after a disaster. An estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster.

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For more information on preparing your business click HERE. 

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