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No matter where you live, you should always be prepared for potential flooding. From broken water pipes to full-blown hurricanes, many things can cause flooding in your establishment. However, you can take steps to prevent flooding, including creating an emergency action plan for your retail food establishment. Emergency plans created with care and attention to detail are especially useful for educating and preparing your staff for any unfortunate situations.
Here are three restaurant flooding prevention tips.
If you’re looking to purchase property for a restaurant, you need to research the area around that location. When it comes to restaurant flooding prevention, tools such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood hazard map provide you with information on the likelihood of flooding in your area. If you see a probability for future flooding, consider looking at other locations.
If you have already purchased a specific property, your next step is to pay attention to waterlines and restaurant equipment. Make sure the plumbing in the restaurant gets inspected annually. Also, ensure that utility boxes and tools such as blenders and toasters are off of the ground and unplugged when not in use.
Although you cannot prevent natural disasters, you can take several steps to protect your restaurant and staff. By implementing an emergency plan, you can help protect your restaurant from additional water damage. Create an emergency plan using government resources such as those from FEMA. Then, review the plan with a supervisor who can implement it in your potential absence.
You must also ensure that all staff members are familiar with the plan. Have your designated supervisor train responsible staff members, so the supervisor has assistance if a natural disaster occurs. Staff members could learn a range of tasks, such as calming a crowd of dining guests or boarding up windows and doors.
If you are dealing with a natural disaster, your guests and staff should be your number one priority. Hurricanes and severe rainstorms cause strong winds that can knock over stoplights and heavy rains that often flood streets. Under these circumstances, you should ensure no one leaves the building. You may consider creating emergency kits or keeping gear accessible in case of a water-caused power outage.
Restaurant flooding is a common and unfortunate event that many restaurant owners around the country have to handle. Whether your establishment is located on a coastline or above faulty plumbing, you should prepare for whatever the future brings. If you need disaster restoration or recovery services, look to Unlimited Restoration for reliable and fast emergency planning and help. We’re known for emergency water mitigation and provide a prompt response when your restaurant is at risk.
Contact us today to learn about how we can help you amid an unexpected disaster.
