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Amid relentless storms and rising water levels after five years of drought conditions, the levee along the San Joaquin River just south of Manteca, California, became damaged in late February 2017. About 500 residents in the rural area were told to immediately evacuate. There was no time for flood damage preparation. Luckily, crews were able to fix the levee before it experienced a catastrophic failure.

While forecasters can tell you a seven-day outlook, extreme weather is unpredictable. Moreover, it’s costly for the nation’s businesses. Even a seemingly small event, like electrical surges and outages, cost the U.S. economy $150 billion in damages annually. No business, regardless of its size or location, is immune to a disaster and its aftermath.

When Hurricane Sandy plowed into the Northeast United States in 2012, estimated business losses totaled more than $25 billion. In New Jersey alone, 19,000 small businesses suffered losses of $250,000 or more with estimated losses at $8.3 billion, about 1 percent of the gross state product. The event served as a hard lesson in the unpredictability and danger of storms.

Anytime a patient interacts with a member of the medical community—from visiting a physician to calling a medical office with a question to filling a prescription—the events are noted in a health record. Thanks to technological advancements, many medical records are electronic. Several clinics, however, continue to use paper-based charts, as the practice may be more convenient to the providers and their staff. A health information records manager ensures the information in physical and electronic records remains up to date and accessible, in accordance with the facility’s document retention policy and privacy standards. The specialists use their expertise to align health care information with security and safety to protect a patient’s privacy and right to confidentiality.

Records losses for a non-profit organization could prove catastrophic. In addition to potentially crippling operations, losses could be a violation of federal and state document retention policies, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Because records-related incidents could have implications that a non-profit might not expect, it is wise to create a document retention policy with retention schedules, as well as a disaster preparedness plan that includes document drying and restoration.