Although 2024 isn’t over yet, it already ranks as the second most expensive for the number of billion-dollar weather and climate disaster events in the U.S. since 1980, behind 2020, according to the National Center for Environmental Information.
Recent Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $50 billion in damages and recovery needs, and Hurricane Helene caused around $200 billion in damages, making it the costliest storm in U.S. history.
Beyond costs, extreme weather events pose significant risks to people, the environment and infrastructure. Extreme weather also highlights the need for greater resilience, including from businesses. Several sectors (e.g., manufacturing, construction, utilities, and oil and gas) face the dual challenge of safeguarding their workers and maintaining operational continuity in the face of storms.
While the weather is outside of anyone’s control, EHS professionals can take proactive measures to strengthen resilience, improve preparedness and minimize the damage caused by such events. By focusing on practical solutions within their reach, EHS teams can help businesses navigate extreme weather while prioritizing workforce safety and operational sustainability. By proactively assessing and integrating climate change risks into decision-making processes, they can better manage these challenges. Additionally, they can track and work to reduce their own impact on climate change.
The Growing Threat of Extreme Weather
Whether their frequency or severity is driven by climate change or other environmental factors, the impacts of extreme weather events are strongly related to the preparedness and infrastructure put in place to mitigate damage--and the ability of affected communities and businesses to respond and recover. Hurricanes, for instance, bring powerful winds, flooding and storm surges that can devastate entire regions.
Some industries are especially vulnerable to hurricanes because of the nature of their operations. Construction sites and oil and gas facilities are often exposed to the elements, leaving them at high risk of damage from winds and flooding. Meanwhile, manufacturers may see production halts due to damaged infrastructure, supply chain disruptions, loss of electricity or inaccessibility for workers.
These risks are not limited to the financial losses caused by operational disruptions; extreme weather events also pose severe safety threats to employees. In the chaos of a major storm, construction workers, factory employees and oil rig operators can face hazardous working conditions, including the potential for injury or death from flying debris, flooding and the collapse of structures. The stakes are high, so EHS professionals need to assess risks thoroughly and be prepared to act in advance of storms to protect both people and assets.
Challenges in Managing Extreme Weather Risks
One of the biggest challenges for safety professionals is the unpredictability of extreme weather events. Forecasting technology has improved, but it can only ever provide an estimate. Hurricanes can change direction, intensify unexpectedly or slow down up to the last minute, thereby altering the extent of their impact. This uncertainty makes it impossible to implement a one-size-fits-all response strategy.
Additionally, EHS teams often have limited resources to work with, especially in smaller companies that may lack the financial flexibility of larger corporations. Planning for a storm can also be complex when operations are spread across multiple locations or when businesses rely heavily on just-in-time supply chains, which are vulnerable to disruption.
Without a solid crisis response plan in place, companies can be caught off guard by the cascading effects of a major storm, putting both employees and operations at risk. Successive extreme events can also leave little time to recover or repair damage and remove debris before the next one hits, as was the case for many areas affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Proactive Measures for Resilience
While EHS teams can’t change the weather, they can implement proactive measures to help reduce risks, as highlighted by the following expert input taken from The Situation Room series. One of the most effective ways to prepare for extreme weather events is through robust crisis planning. This involves more than just a checklist of things to do when an event happens. It’s about breaking down siloes, involving people from across the organization and shaping dynamic actions to prepare the workforce, infrastructure and supply chains to withstand the worst of conditions.
Here are three measures you can take at your organization
1. Crisis Planning and Drills
Crisis planning should include clearly defined roles and responsibilities for employees at all levels, so that everyone knows what to do before, during and after a storm. Conducting regular emergency drills is crucial to keeping safety procedures top of mind and ensuring that workers can act quickly in a real crisis. Planning should also account for evacuation routes, shelter-in-place protocols and communication strategies to keep employees informed during a storm.
2. Risk Assessments and Site Fortification
A thorough risk assessment is essential to identify the most vulnerable parts of a facility or jobsite. This could involve inspecting buildings for structural weaknesses, reinforcing roofs and windows, or placing essential equipment in secure locations. Manufacturing facilities may also consider strengthening electrical and water systems to prevent interruptions to critical processes.
At construction sites, securing materials and machinery ahead of a storm can help prevent flying debris that could harm workers or damage equipment.
3. Technology Enhancements
Technology is a powerful tool for effective storm preparedness and communication. EHS professionals can implement systems to share emergency evacuation plans as well as shutdown and restart procedures with workers, ensuring that critical information is not only seen but understood.
Digital platforms can go beyond simply storing files; they can provide read receipts, control access, and ensure that plans are regularly reviewed and updated. Recurring reminders help keep documents current by prompting teams to review site maps, procedures or staff changes. Additionally, regular inspections and audits of both internal and external areas, such as berms for flood prevention, can be managed through technology, which reports issues and tracks corrective actions, proving readiness.
EHS teams, whether on their own or with the help of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) teams, can also start planning for the long term by leveraging data on the likelihood of physical risks associated with climate change to assess their operations and supply chain’s potential future exposure to certain climate change risks (e.g., droughts, flooding, wildfires or heat waves). EHS teams can identify vulnerabilities and prepare accordingly by conducting climate risk screening, which evaluates potential exposure to these hazards, an assessment of vulnerability and risk mitigation plans.
By analyzing past weather events as well as current and future risks, companies can make smarter decisions about when to suspend operations, protect critical infrastructure or initiate evacuations. Cloud-based platforms allow these plans to be more current by storing safety data in a central location, making it accessible anytime, anywhere.
Post-Storm Recovery and Continuous Improvement
Dealing with the aftermath of a storm can be just as challenging as preparing for the storm itself. EHS professionals should work with cross-functional departments to prioritize post-storm assessments that identify damage, guarantee worker safety, and resume operations as quickly and safely as possible. This includes coordinating with emergency services and conducting full inspections—not just of facilities but also surrounding areas—and watching for potentially deadly hazards, such as unstable branches in tree canopies. It’s also crucial to communicate safe return-to-work procedures and confirm workers have the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), such as waterproof gear for flood recovery or heat-protective clothing for extreme temperatures.
The utilities sector is particularly impacted by storms, as are the workers involved in the cleanup efforts. The urgency and pressure to restore essential services means that utility workers are often working alone or in smaller groups than usual, for long hours and in potentially hazardous conditions. This can lead to fatigue and further increases the likelihood of mistakes or accidents.
Each natural disaster presents an opportunity to learn and improve for the next. By analyzing what worked and what didn’t in the crisis response plan, EHS teams can refine their strategies, enhance training programs, and strengthen site defenses and safety protocols. Regularly reviewing these lessons ensures that the organization becomes more resilient with each event. EHS professionals should also use this experience as an opportunity to assess the risk exposure in the future due to climate change.
The Role of Leadership in Building Resilience
Creating a resilient organization requires buy-in from all levels, starting with leadership. EHS professionals can play a pivotal role in advocating for the resources needed to implement effective storm preparedness measures. This may involve making the case for investing in stronger infrastructure, securing backup power supplies or adopting advanced weather monitoring tools.
Leadership can also ensure that climate change risks are appropriately managed by investing in reporting tools to gather data on climate change physical risk exposure and on the adequacy of preparedness measures. They can then take this data to the board of directors so that processes, strategies and teams can be adapted for better effectiveness or justify further investments and enhancements.
By regularly leveraging data on exposure, impacts and costs related to extreme weather events and climate change risks, EHS professionals can also help leadership better assess the organization’s preparedness and mitigation plans over time. This helps justify the return on investment for existing and possible proactive safety measures that can build resilience over the long term, regardless of the weather.
Empowering EHS Professionals to Act
Extreme weather events are an unavoidable part of doing business in many industries. However, strategic planning and frequent reviews and adjustments can reduce safety concerns and disruptions for both people and operations.
EHS professionals are uniquely positioned to lead the charge in building resilience by focusing on what they can control: crisis response plans, risk assessments, information sharing and safety technology. By preparing today, companies can safeguard their future while integrating climate change risks into their decision-making process. This will protect their employees, their sites and the environment from the growing threat of extreme weather.