Whether it's a tsunami flooding a nuclear power plant in faraway Japan, a devastating earthquake in California or a massive hurricane on the Gulf Coast, natural and manmade catastrophes pose perennial—and potentially devastating—threats to business operations and profits worldwide.

Natural disasters alone caused $109 billion in economic losses in 2010, three times more than in 2009, according to a report issued in January by the United Nations.

But while large companies generally have the financial wherewithal and geographic diversity to withstand such perils, smaller and midsized businesses are more vulnerable to the potential for catastrophic economic losses when disaster strikes.

And even though most companies have some awareness of the potential damage such catastrophes can cause to their operations, income and employee safety, few have effective crisis management plans in place, experts say. And those that do have them rarely review them except when they are needed.

Many small and midsized businesses are also often caught off guard because they don't buy adequate business insurance to reimburse them for such losses.

For example, last spring when the Mississippi River overflowed its banks near Memphis, Tenn., and Tunica, Miss., causing hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage and business income losses, most of the affected small and midsized businesses were uninsured. By contrast, most large businesses in the affected areas had purchased so-called difference-in-conditions and business interruption insurance policies to cover such losses.

Supply chain disruptions like those following the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan also can be addressed through effective contingency planning and the purchase of coverage called contingent business interruption insurance.

The articles and resources in this Solution Arc will help smaller and mid-market companies examine their vulnerability to potential business interruption as a result of natural and manmade catastrophes, as well as provide useful advice to help them develop effective business continuity plans and secure the appropriate levels and types of insurance coverage that will help shield them from economic loss or make them whole after disaster hits.

In addition, the articles will share some of the lessons learned by companies that have survived such devastating ordeals as Hurricane Katrina or a simple water main break that could have shut down business operations.