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As a long-time winter hater (when the snow starts flying, I always picture (this poor guy), I nevertheless look forward to the first official day of the season because it means the gradual return of more sunlight as the days lengthen.
Although many of us already have experienced a nasty November, it’s not too late to prepare for the bad weather that’s yet to come. There are a number of sites that provide information on emergency preparedness, including helpful tips for consumers and businesses. One of the better ones is www.ready.gov from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
One helpful tip in preparing for Mother Nature’s bad moods at any time of the year: Assemble an emergency kit. Items to include:
- A battery-powered radio.
- Flashlights and extra fresh batteries.
- A first-aid kit.
- Bottled water and an adequate supply of non-perishable food.
- A non-electric can opener.
- Extra blankets and sleeping bags.
- A list of emergency phone numbers, including the customer service number for your electric and utility company.
Businesses also may want to take some additional steps to help them stay up and running in the event of severe weather:
- Back up your archives and documents, including critical business data, stored on your computers. Verizon’s Online Backup & Sharing will allow any small-business owner to back up these important files to secure remote servers that only the user can access from anywhere with an Internet connection, including via a smartphone.
- Update the “Contact Us” page on your website to include an email address. This is an additional method of communication for your customers to keep in touch with you.
- Add sign-up forms to your website and other social media platforms to capture contact information for your customers. This will allow you to communicate with them in case you have to temporarily close your business.
Verizon residential and small business customers can visit www.verizon.com/liveagent to report service-related issues. For helpful service-related FAQs, as well as other helpful links, residential customers can visit www.verizon.com/outage, and small business customers can visit www.verizon.com/bizoutage. Medium business and enterprise customers should contact their regular customer service centers or account teams, as needed. Enterprise customers can also access the Enterprise Center at https://enterprisecenter.verizon.com.
Verizon will include updates on preparations for and response to severe weather – from severe snow storms to hurricanes – at www.verizon.com/news, www.verizonwireless.com/news, or http://www.verizonenterprise.com/about/news/.
