Top Tips for Disaster Preparedness:
If there were a way to prevent catastrophic damage in the event of a hurricane, flood, tornado, or even a mudslide, you’d see it advertised for a premium.
The reality is, Disaster Preparation is not Disaster Prevention. When a large-scale natural disaster hits, there’s no getting out of it. It’s a long process, and it’s a costly process.
But you need to have a plan in place. Let’s cover every angle so that when that thousand-year flood does hit, you’re not blindsided.
In This Article:
We spoke with Scott McLaughlin of Sentry Self Storage Management and Kevin Leebrick of My Storage Ops, two seasoned operators who have been through the thick of it at their self storage facilities. Scott’s seen the damage from Hurricane Helene firsthand, and Kevin’s been in the business long enough to have more than one disaster strike.
They laid out their struggles and lessons learned in our Gabfocus session, Disaster Prep & Recovery to give their fellow self storage operators advance warning about what to prepare for in the event of a natural disaster.
Their advice can’t stop a hurricane, but it can keep you on solid ground while you deal with one.
Before you get that hurricane warning or enter into tornado season, before whatever disaster your storage facility might be in the path of, get a disaster plan in place. Struggling to figure out what to do in the moment doesn’t just add stress to an already charged situation, it hurts your chances of quick recovery.
Are you going to charge tenants during the crisis? Or, as Kevin did during Hurricane Helene, charge and refund the money so that you have a legal record of the exchange? How will you handle debris removal? Do you have a plan in place for securing a dumpster? After a disaster, they’ll be in short supply as everyone in town scrambles to recover. What about tenants who want to just leave their damaged belongings?
Scott tells us that in his experience, having a clear, well-thought out plan means you aren’t caught off-guard. It’s your checklist of things to prepare ahead of time and gives you clear steps to take when you know disaster’s coming. It’s a playbook that you review often. Every time something goes wrong, have a meeting with your staff to learn what went well and what didn’t.
Your plan might include protocols for insurance, how you contact customers, or individual checklists for different types of disaster. For example, Scott’s staff prepares hurricane crash kits with supplies in case the power goes out. They train on where storm panels are and how to install them. And they know when to install them. That training is consistent even during staff turnover, so that nobody’s confused or uninformed when it matters.
Kevin adds that a disaster plan affects everyone down the chain of command. Get all perspectives when you’re building your plan, from owner to manager to mid-level. Everyone sees something different and has their own expertise to lend.
You know your storage facility and region, so your plan may look different than someone else’s. But the point is having one at all. Have those hard conversations ahead of time so that in the moment, you can focus on responding to your tenants.
You didn’t cause the hurricane or earthquake. You didn’t start the fire. And your tenants know that.
That doesn’t mean they’ll be happy about what happened. Some people will understand, but there’s one thing they’ll have a harder time forgiving. As Kevin puts it, “They’re not gonna blame you for what happened, but they’re gonna blame you for not communicating.”
In the wake of Helene, here’s what that looked like for Kevin. He and his staff used every method available to get updates out to tenants. Oldschool paper notices, texts, phone calls, emails, social media…nothing was too much with so many unknowns in the face of disaster. “For the first 10 days it was an email a day, maybe twice a day, we went to where there was power and sent emails from there.” They even printed notes out and put them on storage unit doors overnight when they could get to their facility again. “Sometimes there were 8 or 9 pieces of paper on a single door,” he says.
Scott echoes the commitment to informing tenants about what’s going on. “You can’t overcommunicate. You’ll have customers upset if you overcommunicate, but the alternative is much worse.”
In fact, Scott prepares templates for communication with tenants ahead of time as part of his self storage Disaster Preparation. Those include notices for the property closing, as well as updates that go out the day of, the day after, and throughout the aftermath of the disaster. Instead of searching to find the right words while you’re struggling with massive property damage, you’ll do yourself a favor by coming up with them months before.
Keeping your customers in the loop gives them peace of mind and lets them know you’re taking the situation seriously. If they don’t know what you’re doing, they may assume the worst.
Want to see some of Scott’s templated messages in action? Check out our Operator Toolkit, now featuring disaster readiness templates!
You’re no stranger to communicating with tenants. But what if there’s no power? No cell service? No internet? Scott’s answer: start communication before having power issues, as soon as you know a storm’s coming. He advises operators to think through the contingencies and have alternatives.
Maybe one store’s out of power, but another isn’t. You can communicate from there. Maybe you know people in other geographic areas who can help you. Turn the “what if,” into “Plan B.” Even if you’re having to put signs on the door for tenants who find the facility locked, you were still able to communicate. Scott advises having a plan A, B, and C with variables already prepared for.
Kevin mentioned using Starlink to maintain internet connection even in a storm and a healthy stock of generators that can be moved where they need to go.
And if you’re having to do everything by paper, make sure the paper’s ready. Scott talks about those disaster readiness kits he prepares for his facility staying stocked with up-to-date paper forms. He stores these in sealed rubber tubs so that they’re ready for use after the damage has happened.
Regardless of the disasters common in your region, expect the power to go out. Expect there to be no internet. Know what your plan is when it does instead of trying to figure it out when time is short and tensions are high.
Speaking of things you don’t want to figure out in the aftermath of a flood or tornado, how well do you know your insurance policies?
Scott talked to us about some of the earlier disasters he faced, including a metal roof rolling up under high winds into a “bowling ball” that destroyed several storage units in his facility. It took about 5 months to recover the damages, but he was very clear that throughout the whole process, the insurance aspect was the hardest part. And while it’s important to be your own advocate during the recovery process, that can work against you if you start acting as a go-between for the adjustor and the vendors. As an operator, Scott tells us, “I sometimes did a lot of the adjustor’s work for him instead of taking care of my customers. Hold insurance folks accountable, but don’t get between the adjustors and the vendors.”
We got a similar take from Kevin: “Insurance is not your friend.” Even if you have the best flood policy or pay the best for fire damage protection, don’t count on it. Kevin spent 9 months before getting a Business Interruption Check and went through three adjustors, and had to start the process over every time.
Insurance companies may drop you outright, too, if they decide it’s not worth insuring your facility after the damage is done. And while an insurance company still has to resolve any open claims you have, you won’t be able to file new ones until you find a new carrier - which is harder to do if you have open claims.
This information isn’t to make you worry, but to temper your expectations. Recovery’s a long process, and insurance may not be as helpful or forthcoming as you’d like. Document everything and make sure you’re keeping the communication going. “Be your own advocate when it comes to your property insurance,” Kevin says.
The takeaway from both of their experiences is to build a relationship with your insurance representative early and know your policies inside and out. And that’s true of tenant insurance as well. If you’re in an area prone to floods, even sporadic floods, know which plans cover flooding, like Xercor or Bader. If you’re in a thousand-year flood plain, you may not be required to have flood insurance, but it’ll save you money if a flood does happen.
Know the limits of your insurance and tenant protection plans, as well. A plan that covers flooding may not cover debris removal. And at the end of the day, insurance companies are likely to drag their feet when you need them the most. Depend on your staff and community while holding those companies accountable at the same time.
You’ve planned ahead; you’ve put together a plan that won’t let you down. Now the disaster’s here. Is there anything you can do during the storm, fire, or earthquake besides send updates to tenants?
According to Scott, there is. Taking on a coordinator role, especially if you own multiple facilities, keeps everyone on the same page and ensures clear directives when actions can be taken.
For Scott, that looks like setting up a group text with every manager from every store in the region, but on a smaller scale it might look like starting a text chain with all of your staff. This way, nobody’s confused about where to look for updates on what to do next. They’ll be following the plan you’ve built together, while maintaining an open line for when you need to adapt.
Keep your stores or staff in constant communication throughout the disaster. If one store loses power, your other stores are ready to step up and take calls or shift staff to an in-need location.
Coordinate who’s monitoring your security footage, as well. It’s a powerful way to give tenants updates by showing them rather than telling them what’s going on.
Even if all you can do is wait it out, your staff will feel reassured doing so if they’ve heard from you that it’s the right call.
It’s often not just your facility that gets hit by disaster. Your managers may be affected by damage as well. Whether they’re sorting through destruction at home, loved ones in crisis, or have taken the brunt of too many angry customers in the aftermath, your staff need support to get through it.
The quality of your employee’s insurance will shine here, and your knowledge of their mental health resources can be a lifesaver, says Scott. Clarify what kind of support your employees’ insurance offers, and how they can access it. You know your managers, so you’re well aware when they’re struggling, even if they won’t admit it. Scott mentions how hard disasters can be on “our managers and frontliners, and they tend to take a back seat to the squeakier wheel.”
It’s easy to get caught up in recovering from the property damage on your part and your customers’ part in the aftermath. Your staff bear that burden along with you, and deserve just as much support.
Sometimes that means getting mental health resources in front of them, and sometimes it just means taking some of the heat off of them.
Scott keeps an eye out for those opportunities after a crisis. “Know when and where to step in so that your manager isn’t taking both barrels,” he says. Apply patience and empathy when you’re intervening, of course, but take the pressure off your employee so they can deal with something else - there will be plenty to do. Share the load and let the frustrated customer get it off their chest, but stay consistent with your policies so you’re fair to all your customers and you don’t undermine your manager’s message.
After Helene, Kevin made sure to divide the labor up so that nobody felt like they had more than they could reach. “We had two people in the office at all times after the flood,” he tells us. Staff ended up specializing into roles during the recovery process–one showing units and one comforting people. “All the hard stories we deal with on a regular basis come back to us on a much bigger level,” Kevin says.
It’s not to say you won’t have customers who just won’t calm down, who will be angry with you or your manager that their belongings got damaged. Kevin reminds us that you will have to ask some people to leave because they wouldn’t calm down, but it’s all about dividing that pressure up so nobody’s taking all of it at once.
Even when you’re dealing with distraught customers, you have plenty of goodwill from your community to fall back on in the aftermath of a disaster. If you’ve been on top of local business outreach and grassroots marketing, you’ll find more people in your corner than expected.
Kevin mentions two different call center companies calling and to ask if he needed someone to handle calls during the crisis, free of charge. “It shows the kind of industry we’re in,” he says.
And he didn’t just get help from inside the self storage industry, but from people around town. “Our manager knows everyone, she was able to find locals who could help clean up. We paid people who worked at the diner and the deli to help.”
Locals will be happy to return the favor if you’ve been good to your community. And a cleanup crew made of folks in town can cost less than a larger company, especially if the disaster has cleanup crews tied up for months.
Show up for your friends and neighbors during this trying time, and they’ll remember. Let them give you a hand and don’t forget it.
Recovery won’t be a fast process. Buildings will open gradually. It may be years before you’re truly back to normal. Kevin shared advice he received from a mentor in the industry: “Be prepared, it’s a bite of the apple a day.”
Your struggles in disaster recovery start as soon as the event itself is over, and they’re something you’ll face every day, a little at a time.
But with a plan in place, you can mitigate lost time and work to show up for your tenants, your staff, and your business. You’ll get back to normal by relying on your protocols and plans you’ve put in place and your community in equal measure.
Prepare ahead of time for the storm, and know that it’ll pass.
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