Preparing your business for a cyclone

Pack a business emergency kit and store it in a place that is easy to access.

If a natural disaster strikes and you need to evacuate, having an emergency kit can help keep your business running in another location.

Before cyclone season

• Check with your local council to access:
  • flood plans or records to see if your business could be affected and what the impact might be
  • local flood arrangements for your area
  • local disaster updates.
• Search the coastal hazard property map to check your property's risk to coastal erosion or storm tides.
• Check if your building meets cyclone standards (properties built after mid-1980s should withstand cyclonic winds) – if not up to standard, consider how to protect or temporarily relocate your business.
• Check emergency equipment, wiring, smoke and fire alarms etc.
• Identify where to relocate stock, equipment and vehicles.
• Store hazardous materials safely above ground level (or off-site) in case of flooding.
• Clear vegetation, gutters and loose equipment around your premises.
• Make a plan for safeguarding animals and livestock – download Get Ready Queensland’s Livestock severe weather emergency plan (PDF, 2.2MB).
• Practice evacuating your business.

When a cyclone watch is issued

• Check Queensland weather warnings and current tropical cyclone updates from the Bureau of Meteorology.
• Use your local council's disaster dashboard to find information about road closures, river heights, evacuation centres, and more.
• Park vehicles under solid shelter (hand brake on and in gear).
• Sandbag your premises for flooding (if applicable).
• Secure doors and windows with shutters, metal screens or tape on glass.
• Plan for any staff, customers or others remaining on your premises so they are fully informed and have access to first aid and emergency supplies.

• Plan for extended power outages by getting a generator and fuel.
• Ensure you have enough stock, supplies or spare parts in case your power or access is cut off.
• Identify alternative off-site locations to operate from.
• Plan for flexible staffing arrangements (e.g. work from home, online meetings).
• Plan how you will manage work orders, cancellations and following up on your insurance.
• Plan for supply chain disruptions.

• Before cyclone season, check your insurance is up to date, and adequately covers your business, assets and any rebuilds or repairs that may be required.
• Photograph equipment or assets to show pre-event condition.
• Review and document how you will manage orders and cancellations.
• Check you have financial reserves and emergency cash on hand.

• Backup your data and store off-site or use cloud storage.
• Save digital copies of key business documents, for example:
  • insurance
  • business registration
  • property deeds
  • key contracts
  • licences
  • certificates
  • awards.

• Check Queensland weather warnings and current tropical cyclone updates from the Bureau of Meteorology.
• Check ABC local radio and your local council's disaster dashboard for alerts, updates and evacuation centre locations.
• Check QLDTraffic for road conditions and closures or the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator for interstate route planning.

• Follow emergency services advice to shelter or evacuate.
• If you have CCTV leave it running to capture video of potential damage for insurance purposes.
• Activate your incident response plan (includes emergency plan)
  • secure vehicles, equipment and supplies
  • unplug electrical equipment, shut down master electrical board and gas supply
  • collect your emergency kit
  • secure your premises
  • evacuate premises if you need to leave.

• Protect yourself, your family and staff.
• Monitor emergency alerts.
• Return to your premises only when safe.

• Return to premises when safe and secure dangerous debris.
• Assess damage to buildings, assets, vehicles and equipment.
• Record decisions and photos and/or videos of damage in an event log for insurance claims.
• Estimate repair, replacement or relocation costs.

Contact your landlord and insurer

Contact your landlord and insurer before cleaning up. They may fund clean-up and require authorisation before repairs begin.

Safety tips

Managing the health and safety of people involved in cleaning up is crucial.

WorkSafe provides flood and storm information including clean-up fact sheets on electrical safety, steps for planning safe clean-ups, and inducting clean-up teams.

Once the area is declared safe, emergency workers, staff and volunteers can assist, and the clean-up can be conducted rapidly.

Some tips on staying safe during a clean-up include:

• making sure food is safe to eat—it may be contaminated
• boiling water before consumption (if water supply has been contaminated)
• wearing protective clothing including long sleeves and pants, gloves and protective shoes
• using insect protection, especially from mosquitoes that can spread disease
• using ladders safely
• working with others rather than alone
• ensuring undamaged stock is in a secure location to minimise theft
• contacting emergency services, council, and support organisations for guidance and support.

Contact local council

Contact your local council about kerbside pick-up.

If you sell food, contact your local council to find out if you will require an environmental health inspection before you begin trading again.

Utility and service reconnections

Power, water, gas, internet services, and other services may take time to reconnect.

When reconnecting services:

• always use a licensed electrician or tradesperson
• do not attempt any reconnections yourself unless instructed to do so by emergency services
• do not remove or try to repair gas pipework or related appliances and equipment during the clean-up process.

Get professional help with electrical and plumbing

• Find an electrician from the Master Electricians Association for electrical safety tests.
• Find a plumber from the Master Plumbers' Association.

Payment options

Contact your utility providers' hardship team about electricity, gas, phone or water bill payment options.

• Contact your insurer if you:
  • aren't sure the event is covered by insurance – you may be able to claim under your business interruption or income protection insurance
  • have lost your policy documents – your insurer will have a copy.
• Contact the Insurance Council of Australia (phone 1800 734 621) if you have questions about your policy or don't know who your insurer is.
• Check if your insurance policy:
  • funds clean-ups
  • requires authorisation before repairs begin
  • provides emergency or advance funds for wages or recovery activities.
• Gather all information about the claim:
  • complete an event log
  • items to claim and when purchased
  • equipment, furniture etc. that had you've had to throw away
  • photo and/or video evidence.
• Make a claim and resolve issues:
  • lodge claim as soon as possible – don't wait for a full damage assessment before making a claim
    • insurers must fast track a claim if you can demonstrate 'financial need' (read item 64 of the General Insurance Code of Practice) – if the insurer agrees, an advance payment must be made within 5 days
    • your insurer must inform you of their decision to accept or deny your claim 10 business days after receiving all relevant information and completing all enquiries
  • contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority on 1800 931 678 if you can't reach agreement with your insurer
  • phone Legal Aid Queensland on 1300 651 188 if you need information and advice on how to get a claim paid.

• Ask your bank about financial hardship options, for example:
  • changing loan terms
  • temporarily pausing or reducing repayments
  • deferring repayments and interest payments (all missed payments and interest will need to be repaid)
  • waiving fees and charges
  • consolidating your debt
  • finance to help cover cash flow shortages
  • deferring upcoming credit card payments
  • increasing emergency credit card limits
  • waiving early termination fees to access term deposits.
• Provide loan details (account name and number, payment amounts) and an overview of your financial situation.
• Request a hardship variation by using the sample letter generator from the Financial Rights Legal Centre to send to your bank.
• Your bank must advise you within 21 days about your hardship request. If you can't negotiate a variation, you can:
  • contact the bank's internal dispute resolution team
  • visit the Australian Financial Complaints Authority or phone 1800 931 678 to make a complaint, and get free advice and independent dispute resolution.

• Take time out for your own wellbeing and mental health.
• Don't put yourself at risk when cleaning up – use qualified contractors for electrical, gas repairs or reconnections.

• Keep your staff up-to-date on changes to the workplace or processes as you clean up and recover.
• Check what support services are available to staff.
• If you have to temporarily close your business or reduce operations, consider how you will manage your staff during this time. Make sure you're aware of your legal obligations as an employer, especially if you plan to:
  • stand down staff
  • ask staff to take paid or unpaid leave
  • assign staff to different roles or locations
  • end employment.
• Learn more about employment entitlements during natural disasters and emergencies from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

• Review your business continuity plan (includes recovery plan).
• Accounting body CPA Australia provides advice about what businesses can do immediately after a disaster.
• Replace destroyed equipment, stock, records and documents.
• Depending on your preparation and the impact of the disaster, you may be able to reopen after a short time.
• Consider reopening options (e.g. new business location, hired equipment or contractors, reduced hours or services, online services).
• Reopening will also depend on customers' and suppliers' ability to access your business, or your ability to reach and deliver to them.

Review your finances

• Contact your accountant to:
  • identify how long you can operate with reduced or no revenue
  • identify how long you can continue to pay staff and creditors before your business would be trading insolvently
  • identify if or when you would need to lay off staff
  • develop a plan to pay creditors on payment plans where possible.
• Taking stock of your business is CPA Australia's kit to help you assess your financial position.

Get financial help

• Queensland natural disaster assistance includes grants, loans and other financial support for businesses and primary producers.
• Get free financial counselling support from small business financial counsellors and rural financial counsellors.
• Phone the Employer Assistance Helpline on 1300 731 988 – advice and support if your business has been forced to close or reduce operations from the Business Chamber Queensland.
• Learn about extending state tax and royalty payments from Queensland Treasury.

• Connect with other businesses in your industry and disaster recovery centres to find out how you can help your community, or they can help you.
• Accept community support – people want to help and you are not alone.

• Look after the mental health and wellbeing of your staff and family, as well as yourself.
• Consider alternative roles or tasks for staff.
• Stay connected to your local community, industry and neighbouring businesses.
• Remember it's okay to accept assistance, even if you think others are worse off.

• Consider how to reduce the impact of future events on operations and buildings.
• Record lessons learned from your business recovery (e.g. adequacy of insurance policies, and IT, accounting and record-keeping systems).
• Update your business continuity plan, and business policies and procedures.
• Review and update your emergency plan and procedures.
• You may decide not to continue with the business in its current form. Other options may include:
  • converting to an online business model
  • merging with another business or taking on an equity partner who is able to provide continuity and cash flow
  • selling your business
  • outsourcing operational functions for a period of time to one or more businesses away from the disaster area
  • closing your business.

Rebuild your financial position

• Once you have dealt with the immediate situation and sourced assistance from advisers and support services, you may need to take action on your business model, products, and services. For example, you may need to:
  • source other suppliers and drop ship from suppliers
  • add alternative products and services
  • move to online sales and payments
  • seek customers in other regions
  • improve customer service with current customer base
  • renew your marketing, advertising and promotion.
• Work with your accountant, lawyer or advisers on credit and repayment plans and improving your financial performance.

Business support services

• Get free financial counselling support from small business financial counsellors and rural financial counsellors.
• Access small business support services to get back on track, including the Mentoring for Growth program.

• Protect yourself from scams, for example:
  • door-to-door repairs or fake tradespeople
  • profiteering and price gouging
  • charity scams – check if it's a registered charity.

Consider who your business might need to communicate with before, during and after a severe weather event.

Think about how you will communicate if there are power outages.

Key stakeholders may include:

• staff
• customers or guests
• clients
• suppliers and distributors
• banks and insurers
• industry body or association
• regulatory body or agency.

• We value all of our (customers/clients) and will keep you updated as best we can.
• We are well prepared for events like this and have activated our response plan.
• Our business will close from (time/date) until it is safe to return and resume operations.
• Please stay safe and follow emergency services advice.

• If you are in a life threatening or dangerous situation or require emergency assistance, please phone Triple Zero (000). For all other weather event updates visit (provide details).
• Please listen to the advice of emergency authorities at all times.

Initial recovery

• We have been following authorities' advice and plan to reopen our business as soon as it is safe to do so.
• Our doors may be temporarily closed, but you can still buy and order online. Visit our website at (add your website address).
• We wish all of our customers and clients a safe recovery.

Later recovery

• We are now open for business and ready to welcome our customers back.
• Please be patient with us as we work to resume full operations.
• You can continue to contact us on (provide details).
• In the meantime, please visit our website (provide website address) to place an order.