Last spring Rhode Island was up to its elbows in water, as the photographs on the cover and on this page – taken by Brian McDonald at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston, after 2007’s mid-April rains – make evident.
While the water seems peaceful in the photos, its effect on the banquet facility and other businesses that were inundated was anything but calming.
Unfortunately, as any business owner knows, water is not the only natural disaster – natural or man-made –for which companies in southeastern New England need to prepare.
This year, in Providence Business News’ second Disaster Preparedness Guide, planning is the over-arching theme. While a business never can know when a
disaster will strike, it is possible to plan for its response to the challenges that come with disasters.
For instance, the R.I. Emergency Management Agency, in conjunction with the federal EMA, is revising the state’s flood-plain maps. The purpose of the new maps is to give those individuals and businesses in flood plains more current data, taking into account climate change and the rising sea level, so that they can do more sober (and sobering) assessments of their structural, insurance and business-continuity needs.
In fact, every business should undertake routine assessments of their operations. Business success rewards good planning – in good times and bad – and this special section is a good place to start that process.
Mark S. Murphy, Editor
