Torrential rains descended upon Baton Rouge last weekend, leaving hundreds of closed roads and damaged property behind as flooding beset the city.

"Four dead, 20,000 rescued from Louisiana flooding," declares USA TODAY. "Turn around … Don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles," says the National Weather Service.

The worst of this year's hurricane season, it seems, is still to come.

Last week, The Weather Channel announced it expected 10 more named Atlantic storms to form this season. Although many of these will likely not make landfall, a slow moving tropical storm creates ample opportunities for flooding and the consequent disruptions.

As a result, both inland and coastal plant managers are weighing tactics to improve their resilience to inclement weather by developing an emergency response plan to mitigate the effects of severe rainfall.

• Don't hesitate to call before the storm. You may be able to move goods out early.
• Invest in National Flood Barrier Program technology for the warehouse.
• Back-up suppliers and establish alternate transportation routes.
• Establish clear leadership and responsibilities, from preparation to clean-up.
• Practice, practice, practice.

On the dock, the customer is still king

The Port of Virginia has weathered five storms in the past two years, and while a snowstorm last year cost it nearly $560,000 in damages, more often than not the the storm will pass with much of the property intact.

This is because the port has a severe weather contingency plan which puts safety first and emphasizes communication with the coast guard, port staff, clients and stakeholders.

"We have tabletop exercises where we practice loss of operations, be it through weather or cyber-threat or on-terminal disaster, but we practice loss of operations and resumption of operations," said Port of Virginia Spokesman Joe Harris. "While each process is different, it gives us as a team an idea of what it's going to take to get back online," he added.

Severe weather usually provides a few days' notice before reaching the port, so when inclement weather is expected, the port will typically modify its operating hours and announce the change via text to operating staff, and via press release and Facebook for the public.

Yet, Harris explained that once the storm hits, there is no hard and fast formula to determine how long it could take to recover. Even though the ports have a system in place to resume operations, every day of lost operations could take four days to recover.

Harris advises logistics managers to communicate directly with the port authorities to arrange an expedited pick up schedule.

"We ask them to move their cargo quickly," said Harris. "There's always several sunny days before a big hurricane hits. If we need to we will have longer gate hours. We will pivot as necessary to help them. That's a customer service issue, and we want to provide high level of service to our customer."  

Anywhere you can drive, it can flood

Yet ports are only one element of the supply chain and extreme precipitation is not limited to the coast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency reports floods are the most common natural disaster in the U.S., and these can damage both in-transit and in-storage goods.

In fact, according to a recent report by commercial property insurer FM Global, changes in climate patterns are increasing the potential for severe precipitation and flooding.

"What that means for a logistics manager is that they're going to have less warning," said Dr. Lou Gritzo, FM Global's Vice President. "The floods are going to come on faster. When it rains, it's going to rain intensely."  

For that reason, Gritzo recommends logistics managers and companies cross-reference transportation routes with federal flood maps to define flood-resilient route alternatives in the case of inclement weather.

Although the report recognizes that certain areas, notably the Gulf Coast and the Midwest are at increased risk, it only takes one tropical storm or major hurricane to cause surface water build up that could flood roads and buildings.

"You can be a long way out of the flood zone and have extremely heavy precipitation," Gritzo cautions. As a result, perhaps the most important preparation an on-site supply chain manager can take is to develop an emergency response plan.  

Planning for on-site flood damage

"The two big things to consider in an emergency response plan is who is going to do things and what are they going to do to protect the business and the people," said Gritzo.

Each response plan must be highly customized to the business, determining everything from the actors that will take the lead in an emergency to those who will be responsible for cleaning up floodwater following the event.

Yet the plan must rely on employees "whose homes are unlikely to be affected by the same flood," according to FM Global's Flood Emergency Response Guidelines, since an employee is unlikely to come to work if their home is also flooded.

"Our history has shown that facilities with a well-organized flood emergency response plan sustain up to 70% less damage," than those without one, Gritzo noted. The report surveys 118 cases of flooding to find the 46 cases "with an ineffective or no response plan" lost on average $4.2 million.

In addition, companies should consider investing in flood barrier technology more complex than the standard sandbag. In fact, according to Gritzo, sandbags are probably the method of last resort due to their inconvenient labor costs and access to entry issues.

Instead, businesses can consult the National Flood Barrier Testing & Certification Program for temporary flood barriers, backwater valves, flood mitigation pumps and backwater valves that have been jointly approved by the Association of State Flood Plain Managers, FM Approvals, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

But once a plan has been established with the appropriate technology, perhaps the most important step is to consistently practice the response plan.

"You don't want to be pulling the plan off the shelves and dusting it off when the flood comes," said Gritzo.