Hurricane Ike Strikes The Midwest!

Even though we didn't get any rain in the greater Cincinnati area, the 40 - 60 MPH winds with gusts of over 70+ MPH still did plenty of damage.

Two days after the remnants of Hurricane Ike's winds and over 500,000 homes and businesses are still without power. We were fortunate enough to get power back on in our home last night with one more outage overnight...not sure when it came back on, just glad it did.

Fortunately, the rains didn't come with the wind or in addition to lots of roofing and siding damage and fallen trees throughout the area, you could have added flooded basements to the list.

You don't realize how much electricity plays into every day life. We all take it for granted.

This got me to thinking about emergency preparedness for my family, my home and my business.

For this tip, I want to mention some strategies that can help keep your business afloat in the short-term:

• Make sure that you consistently back up everything on your computer.
• Use a software program like Top Producer, that's web-based, so that you have access to your files and client data anywhere you go online.
• Contact your active sellers and see what immediate needs they have that you can handle for them. If you have vacant listings, you need to visit them ASAP to make sure they're OK.
• Contact your buyer prospects, depending on the severity of the community damage, and let them know what's happening. Some listings have been damaged, so before showing homes again, make sure the showings you schedule aren't damaged homes.
• Always have some cash stashed away in a "tin can". Many times banks and ATMs can be shut down without electricity and there may be no way to get money.
• In a more severe setting, where Mother Nature has destroyed a lot of homes, know that the displaced people will need temporary or long-term rental properties until they get back on their feet.
• Build an Emergency Fund equivalent to 3 - 6 months of living and business expenses, so that if you have a major destruction of property in your area, you'll be able to survive, because the bills will keep coming in the mail.

These are just a few of the things that you need to think about and plan for ahead of a major storm or other natural catastraphe. May you never need to experience one, but follow the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared!