Even the best planning for natural disasters will not eliminate property losses and business disruptions, not to mention the possible loss of human lives.

Catastrophes—whether natural or man-made—present a conundrum. A company's disaster plan is activated when catastrophe strikes. Thus, the people needed to activate the plan are in the eye of the storm.

The hours before a natural disaster—assuming timely warning—is when companies unleash their mitigation responses. Buildings are secured, important records are moved to a safe location, equipment is tied down and/or relocated to higher floors to reduce flood perils, and critical metal machinery is oiled to inhibit oxidation. Communications are in high gear: manufacturing partners are apprised to provide potential backup services, contractors are notified to prepare for possible repairs, phone trees are activated to instruct employees about next action steps, and insurance adjusters are informed of potential claims scenarios.

This is a thumbprint of what is a far more hands-on effort, of course. Assuming well-thought-out planning beforehand, a relatively smooth process should ensue. That said, count on surprises, because one disaster often breeds another. And just because a business was spared from calamity, that doesn't mean its vital suppliers, vendors, business partners and customers escaped the brunt.

“People forget about the impact of interdependencies,” said Howard Kunreuther, professor of decision sciences and co-director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “A company is only as strong as its weakest links.”

The first step to executing the disaster preparedness/business contingency plan is to ensure that all employees are apprised of the situation from a personal safety standpoint. That communication is followed by specific measures to maintain the flow of business and commerce, such as transferring employees and operations to an off-site location. Obstacles may arise, however.

“People may not be able to get to their homes, much less work,” said Russ Owens, business contingency specialist with Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. in Houston.

Mr. Owens recalls the impact of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 on Miami-based Burger King Corp.'s business contingency plan. Its “corporate headquarters was at ground zero, and while they were able to get the building up and running in a relatively short time, employees who were parents had kids whose schools were closed,” he said. “So (the company) arranged for on-site child-care services to keep the business going, which was not in their (disaster preparedness) plan, but was a great idea nonetheless.”

Robert Wolf, staff partner-risk management at the Society of Actuaries in Schaumburg, Ill., advises companies to appoint a single person to ride herd on mitigation efforts. “A chief risk officer or someone else essentially in that role should be in charge to guide what should happen next,” Mr. Wolf said. “Obviously, this should all go according to plan, but there are no guarantees. When one mitigation strategy doesn't work, there need to be alternative strategies. If the phone tree fails and there are no communications with partners and employees, another way of communicating must be arranged.”

Quality Distribution Inc. has such a backup communications plan in place. “Every employee has a badge that has an 800 number on it, and they are told to call it in the event of an emergency,” said Mike McDonald, vp of enterprise risk management at the Tampa, Fla.-based trucking company. “If for some reason the land lines fail, each functional department head has a plastic card that lists the cell phone numbers of employees in their charge. Everyone is told to evacuate affected premises immediately, other than a skeleton crew that is prepared to stay here and oversee the protection of the facilities.”

The company's headquarters building was constructed four years ago and is hurricane-resistant, but the crew has specific directions to mitigate potential damage. “People are our first concern; everything else can be replaced,” Mr. McDonald said.

He is talking from experience. At the company's intermodal tanker facility in Chalmette, La., a suburb of New Orleans on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina unleashed its wrath.

“About a dozen tankers were swept out to sea, never to be seen again,” Mr. McDonald said. “We now have specific procedures in place to secure the tankers, and we've encircled the entire perimeter in fencing to contain the tankers during extreme flood conditions. Once burned, twice shy.”

Labor Finders International, a temporary staffing firm in West Palm Beach, Fla., also has a new, hurricane-resistant building it leases. Were a major hurricane to strike unexpectedly, restricting employees' ability to actually leave the building, the firm is prepared. “We've stocked the place with enough food and supplies to last a couple weeks at least, and the building is entirely outfitted with running water, showers and kitchens,” said Wayne Salen, director of risk management.

Given Labor Finder's type of business, there are other concerns when catastrophes occur. “During a disaster is when client companies confront immediate staffing needs,” Mr. Salen said. “While our computer systems are centralized, we utilize backup servers. Our people can access the system remotely from their cars to send temporary workers where they need to go.”

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which encompasses 360 schools in Florida, confronts a somewhat unique challenge during a disaster. “It is not uncommon for our facilities to be used as shelters and our buses to be utilized by county government to take residents out of low-lying areas,” said Scott Clark, the district's risk and benefits officer. “Our first priority, of course, is to transport schoolchildren to their homes, but since the state requires us to take buses off the road if the winds are sustained and in excess of 42 mph, we need to be a soothsayer in predicting this stuff.”

During all disasters, an organization's communications outreach also must include insurance adjusters.

Finley Harckham, a partner in the insurance recovery practice of Anderson Kill & Olick P.C., a New York-based law firm, said: “Take charge of the claim. Typically, companies are shell-shocked, even with professional risk managers scrambling to get the business back on its feet. Claimants must dictate the tempo, conduct and adjustment of the claim. You don't want to be at the mercy of an overburdened adjuster who has 500 claims in front of them. You want to be the first one in line to get your check.”