Actions to Consider in the Wake of a Storm

With the 2017 hurricane season upon us, we want to make sure you are informed of what to do in case a storm threatens your area.

Distribute your current Disaster Recovery Plan to all your DR team members and make sure all members are prepared to perform assigned tasks.

To check if your office or branch is located in a FLOOD ZONE, please reference your local flood map using the link below.

If you are in a FLOOD ZONE, make sure:

All workstations are turned off, unplugged and placed on a desk or table (off of the floor).
Make sure all electronics in your server room are off of the floor if possible.

LOCAL FLOOD MAP

Pay attention to your local news or go to http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ for updates on your area. If you are in a STORM WARNING area, follow the steps below:

Shut down all workstations
Contact NTS if you want to shut down your server infrastructure
If you do shut down, please notify NTS so that we can assist in starting up the system when appropriate.
Ensure all critical documents are out of work areas and stored in a secure, water-resistant cabinet or other storage appliance.
If you have a generator, make sure testing is completed and always make sure there is sufficient fuel.

If you are in a TORNANDO WARNING/WATCH area, follow the steps below:

Monitor the weather when a tornado is threatening.
Have a weather alert radio in the office.
House servers and other vital equipment in protected areas of a building, preferably in tornado-resistant server rooms.
During any storm, unplug any unnecessary electronics to avoid damage that could be caused by a power surge.

Emergency Phone Numbers

Please send your CURRENT EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS (both cell and land line) to NTS. Personal email addresses might also be helpful. When storms strike, different services may be impacted and a variety of contact methods may be required.

If your telephone service provider has the capability of forwarding calls, consider having your phones forwarded in advance of the storm. As this is handled at the provider level, this can also be completed in response to a loss of phone service if you choose not to do so in advance. If you are unsure if your service provider offers this capability, NTS will be happy to assist you with confirming.

Be sure to have NTS EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS on hand in the event you are unable to get through on our office lines. Please contact your Senior Engineer directly.

Please be advised that if any of the storms do make landfall in any of our service areas, we will be focusing our efforts on critical service issues first (e.g., a network that is down, severe server issues, etc.). Any non-critical issues will be addressed afterwards (e.g., installing a printer, minor troubleshooting, etc.). We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Let's pray for the best and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at 229-226-2110.

Be safe this hurricane season!