After Disaster Management

Planning for a Disaster

The Little River Chamber of Commerce is part of the Myrtle Beach Area Recovery Council whose mission is to restore in a timely manner the area’s tourism industry after a man-made or natural disaster. The Area Recovery Council was formed after Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Founded as the Hugo Economic Recovery Committee and later renamed ARC. After Hugo, the council through private donations raised $1.6 million dollars to positively advertise and promote to the public that the Grand Strand had survived and did not sustain the damage as widely reported.

It takes hard work to offset the effects of a disaster such as a Hurricane. Continuity of your business operation is key. Do you have a plan? What will you need? What is your supply chain? What are your processes and procedures to deal with no electricity or employees that can’t get to work? These are just some of the questions you need to think about when disaster strikes.

There are models and templates available through free resources to help you create your plan, not only for business but for home safety as well. They help you identify key things your business needs and assists you with identifying hazards that you may not have considered. 70%-80% of businesses never re-open after a hurricane or other disaster because they have not done this planning. Be one of the 20% that survives.

Including business continuity planning in your business plan can assist you with business loans in addition to emergency planning. Commercial lenders will see your forsight and comprehensive vision as a complete package and worth their risk. Planning guarantees the future.

For more information and to help create your plan go to www.disastersafety.org

Horry County Government Emergency Management

Horry County Emergency Management has a lot of great information online available to aid you in the time of a disaster, such as a recovery planning and assistance. We encourage you to read through their information before a disaster strikes. Learn more about hurricanes, flooding, local Emergency Alert System Notifications, and their comprehensive emergency management plans. Know Your Zone Map

Emergency Alert System Notification (EAS)

FM Radio Stations:

• WYAV 104.1 FM
• Easy Radio

ETV Radio Network:

• WHMC 90.1 FM

• NWR is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service Office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

  Specific Area Message Encoding, (SAME) Codes

  The SAME code for Horry County is 045051.

  A complete list of SAME codes for all states and counties can be found on the National Weather Services website.

Television Stations:

• Fox 43
• WPDE
• WBTW
• WMBF

Useful Phone Numbers

• EAS / Public Information Phone System (PIPS) – Only activated when needed. Spanish interpreters available. If you have storm-related questions, you can call 1-866-246-0133.
• Horry County Emergency Management (843) 915-5150
• Horry County Information Line (843) 915-5005 (843) 915-5006 TDD/TTY – Available 24 hours a day. This number will be pre-empted with pertinent information during a hurricane.
• For information about state-maintained road conditions, call 1-855-467-2368 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Citizens who need to report any road and drainage issues, please call the Horry County Road & Drainage Hotline at (843) 381-8000.
• Department of Transportation – 511
• Department of Public Safety/Traffic (888) 877-9151 – This is the Department of Transportation number for questions about traffic and is usually activated after the storm and stays active as long as needed.
• Report an outage to Santee Cooper at (888) 769-7688
• Acercamiento Hispano de Carolina del Sur – Hispanic Outreach of South Carolina (803) 419-5112
• Public Information Phone System (PIPS) 866-246-0133 – This phone line is staffed in Columbia, providing information on evacuations, shelters, damage assessment and re-entry.
• S.C. Insurance News Service (803) 252-3455
• S.C. Emergency Management Division (803) 737-8500
• American Red Cross (Local Shelters) (843) 477-0020 or (866) 438-4636
• S.C. Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control – Special Medical Needs Shelters (843) 915-8804
• S.C. Animal Care and Control (803) 776-7387
• S.C. Association of Veterinarians (800) 441-7228 or (803) 254-1027
• FEMA 800-621-3362

Tips for calling

• Texting will often go through when calls won’t, try texting.
• Because of how calls are routed from different area codes, a cell phone with an out of town area code will often work when other phones won’t.
• Using your phone during an emergency – When you pick up the receiver, there’s no dial tone. You will immediately think your phone is dead. Now what will you do?

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• Code Red Alerts – be notified by your local emergency response team in the event of emergency situations or critical community alerts. Examples include: evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices, and missing child reports.
• FEMA – text or email

Helpful Websites – Before/During

• Horry County Emergency Management – Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, re-entry directions, and information for a variety of natural disasters, including flooding. Leading local organization during a crisis.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – Prepare and Be Informed about a variety of disasters, plus resources for during and after disasters
• National Hurricane Center
• Horry County Schools News | SC School Closures
• Ready.Gov: Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.
• DisasterSafety.org: Insurance Institue for Business & Home Safety
• SCDOT: State road information
• SC Emergency Management Division
• Santee Cooper Storm Center – Real-time outage map
• Shelter Locations

Helpful Websites – After

• Horry County Emergency Management – Re-Entry
• DisasterAssistance.gov – Disaster Assistance Improvement Program’s mission is to provide disaster survivors with information, support, services and a mechanism to access and apply for disaster assistance through collaborative, data-sharing efforts between federal, tribal, state, local and private sector partners.
• Contractor Fraud Checklist
• Solid Waste Removal and Recycling Services in Horry County – List of waste hauler/recycler services. If you live or work on a county maintained road, the county will come and pick up your debris from damage done by the disaster.  It needs to be sorted by type of debris (glass in one can, wood in one pile, appliances in another, etc.) and brought to the curb.
• Contractor Fraud Checklist – Contractor fraud often increases after natural disasters.
• How to File an Insurance Claim After a Hurricane
• What to Expect After you File an Insurance Claim
• Please visit our Business Directory to find a local clean-up and restoration service.
• Where to Volunteer or Donate

For Businesses

• Myrtle Beach Chamber – After a Business Interruption
• US Chamber – Small Business Recovery Guide
• IRS – Offers tax relief to businesses affected by federally declared disasters
• US Small Business Administration
  • A Reference Guide to the SBA Disaster Loan Program
  • Three Step Process for SBA Disaster Loans
• US Economic Development Administration and US Department of Housing and Urban Development have funds to be used for establishing local, post-disaster revolving loan programs. A list of federal agencies and their economic development-related programs provides more information.
• When disaster strikes, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center activates its disaster assistance resources, including the Disaster Help Desk. Any business can call the Help Desk at 1-888-MY-BIZ-HELP for support in navigating the recovery process.
• RestoreYourEconomy.org – Provides resources and best practice information for public and private stakeholders who are seeking to rebuild their local economies after an economic disruption, be it a natural disaster or man-made
• OFB-EZ (Open for Business-EZ) – This document contains several planning tools, such as evaluation checklists, to help business users understand their risks and forms for users to enter and store important contact information for employees, key customers, suppliers and vendors.
• Business Reentry Registration – The Governor of South Carolina has approved into law a new measure that provides a system for post-disaster reentry certification for businesses and organizations that assist in the restoration of utilities and other services.
• Employee Emergency Wallet Card Template (downloads as Word Doc) – Employers are encouraged to modify and print for their employees to carry in their wallet. The card has emergency contact numbers and important instructions for employees immediately following a disaster.
• PrepareMyBusiness.org – Disaster planning and preparedness can be your lifeline to staying in business. With proper education, planning, testing and disaster assistance, you will be able to stay in business through any interruption and beyond.
• American Red Cross, Ready Rating Program – American Red Cross Ready Rating™, a first-of-its-kind membership program designed to help businesses, organizations and schools become better prepared for emergencies. Members join this free, self-paced program and complete a 123-point self-assessment of your level of preparedness to reveal areas for improvement.
• FEMA – Ready Business will assist businesses in developing a preparedness program by providing tools to create a plan that addresses the impact of many hazards.
• Department of Homeland Security -To develop an “all hazards approach,” DHS has adopted National Fire Protection Association 1600 (NFPA 1600) as the American National Standard for developing a preparedness program.
• Ready.Gov – Risk Mitigation – Learn about the many mitigation strategies that can reduce damage from hazards.
• Ready.Gov – Hurricane Preparedness Social Media Toolkit – This digital toolkit contains social media posts, links to graphics/videos, press release template, employee e-mail message, blog post/opinion-editorial template, and key messages to promote hurricane preparedness.
• CDC Emergency Response Resources – A comprehensive plan for dealing with terrorism-related events should include specific instructions to building occupants, actions to be taken by facility management, and first responder notification procedures.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Smart – At least 25 percent of businesses that close after destructive events such as floods never reopen. From 2011 to 2015, the average commercial flood claim amounted to more than $90,000. Flood insurance is the best way to protect yourself from devastating financial loss. Find the flood risk for your business now using our One-Step Flood Risk Profile.
• South Carolina Insurance News Service – Find information about insurance needed by businesses, including home businesses, as well as details about workers’ compensation insurance.