Ah, the late summer months. We wait all year for what they bring: Cookouts, beach outings, holidays…
…earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, flashfloods, mudslides…
I don’t mean to make light of the tragedies that have beset so many this year. My good thoughts go out to all. The point for business, however, is that the same weather conditions that make late summer so inviting for outdoor living are also the catalysts for natural disasters that can completely derail a company’s operations. And yet, many businesses have no continuity of operations plans to stay running when nature decides to put a stop to travel.
We all remember the 2010 eruptions of Iceland’s unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which disrupted air travel from April through June before finally subsiding in October. During that time, air travel between Europe and the US was hamstrung, with London’s Heathrow Airport all but shut down for a week straight. This year’s equivalent is the Bardarbunga volcano. In late August, Iceland’s Meteorological Office finally lowered the aviation threat level from red (the worst) to orange (merely frighteningly risky).
At around the same time in August, a 6.0 earthquake struck Napa, CA, igniting fires that damaged homes and creating almost impassable traffic conditions in the worst disaster to hit the area since the late 1980s.
