SRP’s guide to monsoon outage planning

Monsoon storms, much like cacti, roadrunners and triple-digit temperatures come with the Arizona territory. Some residents of the Grand Canyon State even admire the lighting shows and rainfall attached with monsoons. But, for businesses, monsoons — typically starting in June, extending through September — can present a complex set of challenges. To help Arizona’s business owners avoid potentially costly disruptions and other fallouts from unexpected outages, SRP provides extensive weather-related preparation resources.

Many businesses have come to learn that preparing for monsoon and other weather-induced outages can significantly protect against disruptions to daily operations, safety issues and breakdowns in communication. In fact, there’s a dedicated name attached to this type of business-preparation strategy: business continuity plan.

The sole purpose of a business continuity plan is to ensure that your workplace is prepared, informed and organized in the instance of an emergency or outage.

How to make a personalized business continuity plan

To help your business craft a custom business continuity plan, SRP encourages reviewing SRP’s “Power outage preparation for businesses” webpage. Here, you’ll find numerous complementary resources, which includes a full outage planning checklist. In this invaluable guide, you’ll learn how to:

Draft an initial plan

Establish procedures and processes that detail an emergency/outage communications plan, specific roles staff will assume during and after the event, a back-up electronic system, and alternative worksite locations and protocols.

Detail employee protocols

Make sure all employees are aware and informed of their roles in an outage/emergency situation, the best methods of communication (including an easily accessible, master phone number list), shelter locations and accommodations for employees with disabilities and/or medical conditions.

Account for customers, vendors and suppliers

Provide emergency/outage plans to customers, vendors and suppliers, and update as needed.

Include specific safeguards for equipment

In addition to an up-to-date inventory of any and all onsite equipment, check that safety implementations are secure (surge protectors, back-up batteries and other safeguards are in place and functioning properly).

Enact routine continuity plan drills

Empower specific employees to enact emergency/outage drills based on what is outlined in the business continuity plan. Use routine test runs to fine-tune and improve protocols.

Create a 72-hour emergency kit

For added assurance and preparedness, gather the following items as part of your business continuity plan:

Non-perishable food
Bottled water
Flashlights
Batteries
First-aid kit
Battery-powered radio and TV
Various chargers (for vehicles, cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices)

Report or check on an outage

If your business has been impacted by a monsoon-triggered outage, SRP makes it easy to report — or check the status of — an outage:

Call SRP directly at 602-236-7771 — 24-hour support.
Visit SRP.Net and access the “View Outages” page (click the lightning bolt!).
Download the SRP Power mobile app.
Sign up for MyAccount.

When you do report an outage, mainly by phone, it’s helpful to relay as many details as possible, including the location, time and extent of the event.

Learn more about how to plan for monsoon and other weather-related power outages, and connect with us @SRPconnect on Facebook and Twitter.