2022 Hurricane Preparedness – Anticipation of Another Active Storm Season

Another highly active Atlantic hurricane season is on its way. Is your organization prepared for tropical storms and severe weather? Regroup provides some guidance on dealing with hurricanes.

With fewer than two months from the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters from AccuWeather are predicting another active season. As many as 20 named storms are predicted to form in 2022 with up to 8 becoming hurricanes. Further, AccuWeather predicts as many as 5 storms could develop into major hurricanes.

2020 was a record-breaking hurricane season that produced 30 named storms including 6 major hurricanes. Between 2001 and 2020, 38 hurricanes made landfall in the United States. Of the years recorded, 2005 was, by far, the deadliest. That year, 4 major hurricanes – including hurricane Katrina – accounted for an estimated 1,518 fatalities.

Not only are hurricanes and other tropical storms a significant threat to life, they bring with them serious economic consequences. The destruction of property and disruption of business accounts for up to $54 billion a year in losses.

As we’ve previously discussed, having a preparedness and response plan is critical to protecting employees, assets and property. For enterprise and large organizations, these plans require annual review and revision, based on acquired assets, workforce size and investments in facility safety and security.

A common mistake for many individuals and organizations is growing indifferent to the risks associated with tropical storms and hurricanes because their region has not been affected in recent years. However, 2004’s hurricane Charley proved that models and forecasts can only predict so much. In August of that year, Charley took an almost boomerang-like turn as a Category 4 storm and traveled across the state of Florida, causing over $16 billion in losses and 15 fatalities.

Ultimately, hurricane Charley affected Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina — underscoring the sentiment that one can never become indifferent when major storms threaten.

Along with our preparedness checklist and our Hurricane Preparedness Guide, Regroup has directly aided organizations by offering free use throughout more serious storms, like hurricane Irma. Our Customer Success and Technical Support teams remained available 24/7 until our client organizations were in the clear.

Because we take our commitment to keeping people and assets safe so seriously, we have a deep understanding of the importance of preparedness and communication.

Regroup’s platform is the ideal tool for communicating during severe weather. With our National Weather Service, NOAA and IPAWS integrations, storm warnings are automated and notifications sent to your entire network — or specific regions — without intervention.

Regroup also provides two-way communication so that you can advise stakeholders and collaborate when time is of the essence. Using Regroup’s free Mobile App means your entire organization can stay in touch, provide updates and receive all-clear notifications when the danger passes.

Additionally, Regroup allows you to direct notifications to specific geographic regions. With the platform’s geo-fencing capabilities, you can automatically alert people entering a specific location of potential threats or send updated information to a particular area.

Finally, Regroup’s cloud-based platform allows you to send and receive notifications through a variety of channels such as email, voice calls, text/SMS, push notifications, corporate intranets and voicemail. Regroup delivers even when power is out or cellular towers are overloaded.

Keeping your organization in contact during critical events is important for protecting lives and for ensuring property and other assets are safeguarded. As stakeholders and leaders, it becomes our responsibility to provide tools that ensure the best possible outcomes for every member of our team. At Regroup, we understand the importance of this obligation and work with our clients to establish a solid communication plan for times of crisis.

Your Next Steps
Regroup offers a free Hurricane Preparedness Guide to help you learn about the risks and advance preparation for your entire organization.

Our guide can help you through the steps of planning for severe weather before the storm hits, and how to recover after the following dangerous weather events. Download it here.