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Wind, Water, Wi‑Fi: Florida’s Hurricane Tech Playbook

High-resolution satellite view of a powerful hurricane over deep blue ocean waters, with a clear eye and tightly wound spiral cloud bands.

When the Forecast Changes Everything

At first light on 29 September 2022, Hurricane Ian’s surge and wind left very different scars across the state. In downtown Fort Myers, cube‑farm PCs floated alongside chairs while soaked servers blinked out for good; meanwhile, 70 miles inland in Arcadia, power crews wove through toppled oaks to restring miles of downed line. One storm, two disaster zones—and a clear lesson: location dictates the technology playbook.

The checklist that follows distils those lessons along with guidance from FEMA, NOAA, FPL, and Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. Tailor it to your zipcode—and share it with your neighbors—so the whole community bounces back faster next time.

Two Hurricane Worlds in One State

Drive from Miami Beach to Gainesville and you cross two distinct disaster zones. Along the coast, a wall of ocean can rise fifteen feet in half an hour. Forty miles inland, the main threat isn’t water but 150 mph straight‑line winds that turn century‑old oaks into battering rams.

This geographic split shows up in utility data: coastal communities often wait a week or more for power because saltwater corrodes substations and underground cabling. Inland counties, by contrast, typically see crews working within 24 hours once fallen trees are cleared. The result is a paradox: coastal firms must plan for longer downtime, while inland firms must be ready to spring back to life the moment power flickers on.

Laying the Groundwork: 60 Days Out

Florida’s official hurricane season starts June 1, but effective technology protection begins long before the first tropical wave appears on the NOAA map. By May 1, every business should have three pillars in place.

Verified, Off‑Region Backups

A nightly success email from your backup software isn’t proof of resilience. Choose one full day of operations, restore every byte to a test environment, and open the files. Then confirm that the cloud replica resides in a region far from Gulf and Atlantic storm tracks—Oregon, Utah, or Virginia work well.

Insurance Without Surprises

Pull your policy and read the fine print with an eye for technology exclusions. Ask your agent whether storm‑surge damage is treated differently from wind, whether business‑interruption coverage includes grid failures, and whether the policy reimburses the surge‑pricing that inevitably hits equipment rentals after a major disaster.

Vendor Commitments in Writing

When cell towers are down and highways are flooded, your MSP, copier supplier, and internet provider become lifelines. Make sure each can deliver 24 × 7 emergency support and has replacement hardware staged outside the impact zone. Forty‑eight hours after the all‑clear is a reasonable on‑site service window—if a vendor can’t commit, keep looking.

Fine‑Tuning at T‑30 Days

By the time hurricane season opens, attention shifts from infrastructure to people and processes.

Train for the Aftermath, Not the Eye Wall

A single day of remote‑work rehearsal—everyone logging in from home using emergency instructions—reveals missing VPN licenses, outdated passwords, and sketchy home routers before those gaps become mission‑critical. Pair the access drill with a communication cascade: if corporate email fails, can managers reach every employee via text or voice within thirty minutes?

Elevate, Package, Document

Create a floor‑plan that lists the height of each server, switch, and UPS above sea level. Anything below four feet in coastal zones should move higher. Pack waterproof tubs with essential spares: patch cables, small switches, and encrypted drives containing the latest verified backup. Finally, write a graceful shutdown sequence so non‑IT colleagues can power systems down without corrupting databases.

The 72‑Hour Countdown

The National Hurricane Center has issued a Watch; probabilities are rising; shelves at Publix are emptying. You now have three jobs.

  1. Lock in the data. Force a final backup sync and verify that the off‑site copy completed.
  2. Secure physical assets. Relocate portable hardware to the highest, most interior room. Photograph every rack and serial number for insurance records.
  3. Guard the entry points. Ensure access‑control systems have battery runtime—or power them down safely to avoid doors stuck inoperative once mains fail.

Coastal Protocols: Fighting the Surge

Saltwater doesn’t just wet electronics; it eats them for months. Equipment that survives the flooding often fails weeks later from corrosion you can’t see.

  • Elevation is non‑negotiable. House servers and firewalls on raised racks or upper‑floor closets—at least four feet above grade—and mount generators on elevated concrete pads well above projected surge levels.
  • Plan for 5–14‑day outages. Stock eight‑to‑twelve‑hour UPS units to bridge fuel deliveries and specify satellite Internet as the last‑mile backup when cellular networks collapse.
  • Clean fast. Within 48 hours of re‑entry, wipe residues from chassis, fans, and connectors. Budget for accelerated replacement cycles—salt shortens lifespan even in sealed gear.

Inland Protocols: Bracing for Wind and Trees

Away from the coastline, the ocean recedes from view but wind becomes weaponized.

  • Harden the roof. Annual inspections catch flashing gaps that turn leaks into waterfalls. Reinforce any room housing critical tech.
  • Trim or remove threat trees. A sixty‑foot oak can punch through concrete once uprooted. Keep clear‑fall zones around equipment rooms and generators.
  • Automate the restart. Program core systems to boot in the correct sequence the moment stable power returns, and protect the whole site with surge‑suppression to handle dirty grid restarts.

Recovering Together: First 72 Hours Post‑Storm

Safety comes first. Wait for a licensed electrician to green‑light the building before energizing anything. Once inside, document damage before moving gear—it is easier to contest an insurance assessment with a time‑stamped photo library than with memory.

Recovery priorities follow a simple hierarchy:

  1. Life‑safety and security systems (fire suppression, access control)
  2. Connectivity (Internet uplink, phones, email)
  3. Core business applications (ERP, point‑of‑sale, financial software)
  4. Productivity tools (file shares, collaboration suites)

Aim to stabilize the first two within 24 hours of occupancy; the remainder will follow naturally once the foundation is stable.

Measuring Community Impact

Preparedness isn’t just about balance sheets; it keeps people employed and local services running. A simple way to visualize that benefit:

Hours of downtime avoided × Employees able to work = Community‑service hours preserved

If your plan prevents a ten‑hour outage and thirty‑five staff stay productive, that’s 350 hours you returned to the local economy.

A Final Word — and an Invitation to Share

Only about half of U.S. organizations maintain a documented disaster‑recovery plan. In Florida—where billion‑dollar storms make landfall every few years—that statistic feels less like oversight and more like a pending extinction event.

But preparedness scales when knowledge spreads. Print this guide, tape it inside the network closet, and email it to a neighboring business today. The next hurricane is a when, not an if. Together we can ensure it becomes a story of prompt recovery, not permanent closure.

Why Think Technologies Group Publishes Guides Like This

We live and work in the same flood zones and tree lines as our clients. Sharing what we’ve learned—from verified backup restores to keeping cloud‑hosted phone systems humming during outages—is part of our commitment to a safer, more resilient Florida. Need a hand crafting or pressure‑testing your own readiness plan? Reach out to us—we’re happy to help. Use this checklist freely, adapt it to your context, and, above all, stay safe.

Sources & Further Reading