Lessons learned from Hurricane Ike

At about 1 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, Hurricane Ike knocked out the power in my area, 95 miles north of Galveston, Texas. The eye hit Galveston at around 2 a.m. Assuming Ike was moving at 18 miles per hour at that time, the destructive reach of the hurricane would have been a frightening 70 miles or more from the eye.

This animation from the National Weather Service shows the path and the extent of the hurricane on that frightful Saturday morning better than any description could ever do.

The damage caused by Ike has been huge. Even this initial, partial assessment published Monday, Sept. 15, by the New York Times counts millions of people without electricity, extensive building damage, widespread flooding, and thousands of evacuations.

There is unfortunately little that can be done to keep business operations humming in the aftermath of such devastation. Even in areas where the hurricane’s damage was less severe, power and related services proved hard to come by.

Thankfully, no flooding occurred where I live. Power, however, was not restored for more than seven days, giving me the opportunity to test my own preparedness and that of the businesses around me.

Obviously, having a generator and enough fuel to keep it running was of paramount importance. But also immensely helpful was an EvDO connection, which, with my satellite dish buried under a fallen tree and my landline dead, was my only connection to the outside world.

Nevertheless, by Tuesday my gas reserves were getting low, and I began to look around for refueling. I had to drive for 15 miles and stay in line for four hours to fill up my tanks, as this was the only service station working within 50 miles. When I finally left around noon, the lines were as long as when I had arrived in the morning, perhaps even longer.

“There is no reason to get upset,” one manager said, after settling a line dispute between two customers. “We have plenty of gas.” Obviously, that particular service station had planned for the hurricane and managed to have not only a generator to keep the pumps running but also plenty of gas reserves to satisfy an exceptional crowd needing fuel.

No less important was that the service station chain kept an updated online list of locations that were operational, available to the many people who can browse the Web from their cell phones.

Unfortunately, the service station was a rare exception. Other businesses in my area were not as forward-looking and sought generators, fuel, and replenishment stock only after the hurricane. As a consequence, they left their customers to fend for themselves for a few days or longer.

A couple of days later, most gas stations had reopened, and customers no longer needed to spend hours in line to refuel. Other businesses, however, remained in emergency mode for quite some time, some even now while I am writing.

For example, a local Lowe’s had stocked gas cans, chain saws, and accessories, quite useful items if you live in a wooded area and have to clean up after a hurricane. But the store failed to stock enough portable generators, an item that many customers would have bought after realizing that the power would be out for longer than a week.

Another telling example: Wal-Mart ran out of bottled water on the Friday afternoon before the hurricane. Makes you wonder what they were thinking: Water is the most important item during an emergency. Perhaps they were afraid to stockpile goods where the hurricane could have destroyed them?

Whatever the reason, those seeking water had to wait for the FEMA envoys, the first wave of which rolled in Monday, Sept. 15, long before Wal-Mart finally restocked. Not the best way to show your customers how much you care for them, in my view.

I was also disappointed to find out that many grocery stores, including my local Wal-Mart, didn’t have enough generator power to keep perishable items cool, and appeared to have barely enough power to keep frozen goods from thawing. In many homes, including my own, people kept freezers and refrigerators running off portable generators; in this day and age, you would expect those chains to be able to do the same.

If I had to sum up my recent experience with Ike for businesses large or small, I would say:

1. Don’t be afraid to take risks on stock levels. Well before a predictable disaster such as a hurricane, be bold and stockpile as many primary goods as you can.

2. Plan to keep your stores running in as close to normal mode as possible. Customers find grocery stores that don’t offer perishable goods as useless as phone lines without dial tones.

3. Don’t underestimate the power of communication. Your customers may not have landline phone service or cable, but they will find a way to reach you via the Web. Keep those Web pages up-to-date with useful information, including which stores are open and what they offer.

4. Right-size your generators. The power will be off for a long time, and you should be sure that your store has enough power for all its needs.

Have you been in a major disaster? Please share your experience by e-mail or in a comment below.