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Water damage is one of the most problematic and widely experienced forms of disaster damage in the country. Its causes are numbered and varied, including natural flooding, burst or leaky pipes, fire hose damage, and plain old humidity. Water damage is such a problem because it affects most every aspect of your home; it rots the wood, rusts the steel, de-laminates plywood, and, most frustratingly, ruins precious documents. To lose appliances or furniture is one thing. Those can be replaced. But when a flood or some other disaster damages family photo albums, antique books, or business documents, water damage goes from irritating to downright tragic.

So you’ve just survived a flood. What next? The time immediately following a flood is the most crucial if you are expecting to recover any personal property that may have been damaged by the floodwaters. However, hasty recovery tactics can lead to further damage of your property and potential harm to yourself and your loved ones. The best way to recover from a flood is to determine the type of flood you’ve experienced, the extent of the damage that has occurred, and the safest way to go about salvaging your belongings.

In addition to tragic human suffering, hurricanes pose a real threat to the economy. Unless business owners know what to do to return to normalcy, residents may not feel the storm’s true impact until months later, as they face still-closed businesses and unexpected price inflation. Mental health professionals also recommend a quick reopening of businesses to bring a sense of normalcy to affected areas. Businesses can help by being prepared for emergencies, and returning to “business as normal” as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, small businesses are usually very poorly equipped to handle major disasters such as fires, floods, and storms. Small business owners often have enough on their plate without having to worry about planning for a natural or man-made disaster. According to a recent poll by the National Federation of Independent Business, almost forty percent of small businesses experience disaster at some time; ten percent man-made and thirty percent natural. But what steps can you, a small business owner, take to ensure a man-made or natural disaster doesn’t mean the end of your business? The answer to that is simple; develop a disaster recovery plan, and develop it now.

If you’re like most small business owners, your company is your livelihood. Protecting your organization and all that it takes to run it is critical. Oftentimes, much effort goes into crisis prevention, but little is done to plan for recovery. Below, you’ll find useful tips and information to help your small business not only prevent but recover from one of the most common and devastating disasters a company can suffer: fire.