You Need 1 Disaster Recovery Plan Template to Survive Hurricane Season

Businesses and organizations can hedge against disasters (hello, U.S. hurricane season) by using a comprehensive disaster recovery plan template.

Most disaster recovery plans focus on IT processes, but businesses can recover as quicky and efficiently as possible when their disaster recovery plan steps are clear and detailed across all processes and departments.

For example, businesses in hurricane regions that store bulk fuel on-site or would require fuel for backup power solutions during a hurricane can protect themselves better if they include a specific fueling section in their disaster recovery plans.

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

A disaster recovery plan is an emergency response document and includes the most important steps business owners and employees must take immediately after a hurricane, storm or other disaster. It gets into the fine detail of how to respond to aspects of the business that may be damaged.

Disaster Recovery Plan Steps

1. The first step to disaster recovery planning, according to the University of Texas at Austin Information Security Office, is to identify your organization’s critical processes and systems. This can be done by performing a business impact analysis (BIA), which also shows how an organization would be affected if its processes were disrupted. In addition, a BIA creates workarounds while the disrupted processes are being restored. The areas you identify in your BIA are those for which you will focus your disaster recovery and backup planning.
   • Ready.gov, an official website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, provides a BIA questionnaire that helps predict business costs of hurricane-related business disruptions and recovery efforts.
   • The University of Texas also provides instructions with its BIA template.
2. The next step is to create a disaster preparedness plan. Here’s a disaster preparedness plan template from the University of Texas.
3. The final step is to create a backup and recovery plan. Again, the University of Texas provides instructions with a backup and recovery plan template.

Disaster Recovery Plan Example for Fuel

You can adapt either of the disaster recovery plan examples mentioned in this article to include fuel processes. Yours might look something like this:

• Primary crisis manager (fuel)
  • Primary emergency contact
  • Phone number
  • Alternative number
  • Email
• If primary crisis manager (fuel) is unavailable, secondary crisis manager
  • Secondary emergency contact
  • Phone number
  • Alternative number
  • Email
• Participants in emergency planning and crisis management (fuel)
• Primary processing site for information resources
  • Building
  • Street address
  • City, state, ZIP code
  • Phone number
• If primary site (fuel) becomes unavailable, alternate site
  • Building
  • Street address
  • City, state, ZIP code
  • Phone number
• Location where primary copy of this plan will be stored
• Off-site location where an up-to-date copy of this plan will be stored
• Critical services (there will be several)
  • Service
  • Administrator
  • Location of Business Impact Analysis
  • Location of Backup and Recovery Policy
• Notification
  • In case of a disaster, we will communicate with staff in these ways.
  • In case of a disaster, we will notify users in these ways.
  • In case of a disaster, these external people or groups will be notified.
• Vendor contacts (there will be several)
  • Company
  • Street address
  • City, state, ZIP code
  • Account number
  • Account manager
  • Phone, fax, email, social media
  • Technical support contact
  • Phone, fax, email
• Employee contacts (there will be several)
  • Employee
  • Home phone, cell phone
  • Email
  • Social media
• Annual review
  • We will review and update this disaster plan (insert date).
• Approval
  • Department head or chair
    • Signature
    • Printed name
    • Date
  • Technical manager or lead
    • Signature
    • Printed name
    • Date

You’re Ready to Use a Disaster Recovery Plan Template

You have the tools, templates and knowledge to build a detailed disaster recovery plan that addresses the most important processes across departments. Every day you wait to build your disaster recovery plan increases your business risk. What are you waiting for?

Helpful Resources – Disaster Recovery Plan Templates

• BIA Questionnaire: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Disaster Recovery Planning Instructions and Templates: University of Texas
• Disaster Recovery Planning: U.S. Small Business Administration

Need Help? Ask the Experts

For help in choosing the right fuel storage tank for your disaster recovery plan or everyday operations, it makes sense to ask the experts.

Unity Fuel Solutions is North America’s leader in double walled storage tanks. For advice on the tank and system that’s right for you, call the Unity team at 800-234-1689.