Business

How to Prepare for a Hurricane as a Private Photo Editor

How to Prepare for a Hurricane as a Photo Editor | Emily Moore | Private Photo Editor
I'm Emily!

I'm a NC girl born & raised, a wife to my college sweetheart, mom to my sweet daughter Caroline & fur-mom to my floof, Riley. I love summer days at the beach, fall weekends in the mountains, & everyday in between exploring new corners of the world. I live for Italian food, tacos & margaritas. Currently taking life one adventure at a time.

hey there

"5 Changes that Doubled My Income in Just One Year" Free E-book

Gimme that

TOp categories

Preparing for a Hurricane

As Hurricane Irma approaches the East Coast with José close behind, I want to share with you some steps to take in order to help prepare your business if you will be impacted by these storms! Even though they are not sure how Irma will affect a lot of the southern states, I’d rather be over-prepared than not prepared at all! There are so many unknowns right now, and ANY part of the south could still be effected. Even if Irma does not directly impact you, the wind gusts caused by the storm could cause serious power outages throughout the south. Rest-assured that I am taking all of these precautions myself, and I highly recommend you do the same!

Hurricane Irma 2017

Keep Your Clients Updated

The first thing you need to do is contact all of your clients. Let them know that the hurricane may cause delays in your turnaround time. Trust me — they are going to understand and they want you to be safe! They may even offer to edit any catalogs themselves in order to help you out. Even if you are further north and you are not expecting to be hit by the storm, wind gusts can still cause power outages in your area. Tornadoes frequently accompany hurricanes, and states surrounding the storm could still be affected. If there’s even a small chance you could experience issues from a storm like Irma, it’s best to be prepared. Make sure you clients are aware that even if you are not expecting issues, there is always a possibility for delays!

Backup All of Your Files

You don’t want to lose any of the catalogs you’ve already worked on, so make sure you backup of all of your files on a small hard drive and put it in a waterproof box. I use the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive for traveling. It’s small and compact, but holds a lot of files on it. We have a waterproof safe that is well out of the way of any possible flooding damage, but if you do not have a safe in your house, you can pick up a pretty inexpensive watertight box. Also, make sure you put any important business documents in this box! Keep it in an area that is safest from flooding or other potential damage. If you have to evacuate, you can easily pack it in your car to take with you. You may also want to consider using online cloud backups for files!

Move Equipment to a Safe Area in the House

This may not be crucial for everyone, but it’s best to prepare your equipment in case you have unexpected flooding. Even if you do not think your house could fall victim to flooding, make sure that your expensive equipment is not left in an area where it will be susceptible to water damage. I’d recommend moving computers, tablets, laptops, cameras, etc. away from any windows and on the middle floor of your house. If you don’t have a middle floor, leave it on the bottom floor, but on top of shelves, cabinets, or tables. There is no guarantee that your equipment will be safe, but doing this is your best bet to keep these items protected.

Prep Electronics and Chargers

If your power goes out, one of the few ways you will be able to charge a laptop is if you get a power inverter and charge it with your car. I don’t recommend this, as it could drain your car battery. That’s something you will *probably* need in this situation. Forget about charging the laptop — you have already informed your clients that there could be delays! Instead, make sure you have a solar charger so you can keep your phone completely charged! At this point, I don’t expect you to be doing any work, but if you need to contact your clients for anything, you can use your phone to email, call, or text them. Honestly if you find yourself in this scenario, keep that phone charged and use it to call for help if you need it!

Stay Safe

Please please PLEASE don’t forget to take these necessary steps to make sure your business is protected and all of your necessary documents are safe. I know it’s easy to forget about these things during all of the craziness, but you’ll be so thankful you did! My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Florida and others in the Caribbean who have been affected by Hurricane Irma! To everyone staying and everyone on the road evacuating: please stay safe!

 

This post does not contain affiliate links.

 

If You like This Post, then you may also be interested in:

How to Prepare for Vacation as a Private Photo Editor
My Top Tool for Fast Editing
Using May Books to Organize Your Editing Business

+ show Comments

- Hide Comments

add a comment

  1. Mariana says:

    Great tips! Luckily, I’m not in an affected area. My thoughts are with everyone who has to deal with this.

  2. Kira Vos says:

    Great advice! Glad to hear you are taking precautions and I hope you and your loved ones are safe.

  3. ej says:

    Gosh, I didn’t even think about the preparations of photographers in those affected areas! Thinking of all of you!

  4. Erinn says:

    Awesome tips! While people are preparing for the hurricane small businesses are often forgotten. Thank you for the helpful reminders.

  5. Mercedes says:

    This is a great list. I think any small home business could definitely benefit from these tips, really. Very helpful for sure!

  6. Laurie says:

    What a great post for this week. I live along the North Carolina/South Carolina line so they can’t decide what we are going to get but I need to be prepared. People think about water and food but I don’t think they think about the other things.

  7. Hilary says:

    What a great post! I hadn’t even thought of this for photographers in the line of the storms. Thanks for sharing!

  8. Amina Ford says:

    Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for writing this. I lived a while in New Orleans, and have seen first hand what happens when one doesn’t adequately prepare for a hurricane. These are great tips for everyone!

  9. Jamie says:

    These are so true. I also make backups to store in multiple locations (not my own home), for a little more peace of mind. Definitely won’t be erasing my memory cards from this weekend’s wedding anytime soon, always safe to have originals on hand, worst case scenario happens and you need to start over with the editing process! Everyone be safe, please!

  10. Shayna says:

    These are such great tips on how to prepare your photography business (or any small business) for a hurricane. I love utilizing the auto-respond on my emails when I am not able to respond as promptly as normal; it is so important for our clients to feel like they are in the loop and not forgotten. Praying for everyone in the path of these storms!! We are in Eastern NC and expecting to feel some effects.

  11. Sarah says:

    These are great tips, and something many people may have forgotten about. Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in the path of the super storm

  12. Elizabeth says:

    Wow! Great tips and hopefully you don’t feel the impact for Irma or Jose.

  13. Meghna says:

    Awesome tips. Stay safe. Our prayers are with those who are affected.

  14. Sandi says:

    My family had to evacuate and got out yesterday. Please stay safe and thank you for the tips!

  15. Chelsea Wallace says:

    I love theses tips for emergencies, especially since all these hurricanes are out there! Photos and important documents for your business should definitely be backed up in at least two places, I really need to get on a cloud service for that!

  16. Alice L says:

    Great post with some great tips. I don’t think many of us think about these things until it is happening. Stay safe!

  17. Alyssa says:

    this is great advice! i’ve been thinking about this a lot lately even not being in an area that gets hit very hard!

  18. Deb B. says:

    These tips are so important and helpful in light of everything that’s happening. I’m so glad information like this is available for so many that may need it!

  19. Morgan Ellis says:

    This is great advice. Love that you included keeping your clients informed!

  20. Surekha says:

    Having backups is a great tip and is always necessary. I pray for everyone in Florida. Stay safe

  21. annie says:

    Great tips to put in place during these times! hope you were not affected. be safe!

  22. […] year, I wrote a post about how to prepare for a hurricane as a private photo editor, but this year I want to do a more personal post. I want to share with you about some of the things […]

© Emily Moore 2023. All rights reserved. | Legal | Design by TONIC

@EMILYMOOREPHOTO

EMILY MOORE BOUTIQUE PHOTO EDITING IS BASED IN
ZEBULON, NC