At some point in either our personal lives or business lives wehave had to ride out a storm.

Countless articles have documented how an individual, family,business, government entity, city, or town has had to step up andhandle a crisis.

Luckily, assistance is available to assist you in weatheringyour storm, whether it be a minister, counselor, accountant,attorney, Red Cross, FEMA, or in the case of a specificweather-related storm, your insurance agent. Most people would notnecessarily place an insurance agent in this category until theyexperience the aftermath of a tornado, earthquake, hailstorm,lightning storm, flood or hurricane. Unfortunately for all of usand for the loss ratios of most insurance companies, these type ofevents have occurred all too often in 2011.

The storm many of us along the East Coast and in New Jersey havehad to weather was Hurricane Irene, which decided to pay us a visiton the weekend before Labor Day in the height of the summer season.The actual time frame Irene took to "check into" the Jersey Shore was Aug. 27 and28.

I thought I would share with you the chain of events thatoccurred before, during and after these dates within ouragency—VanDyk Group—and the challenges we faced as a multi-facetedinsurance and real estate agency.

Related: Read another column by Jeffrey R. Wyrsch"Go Above and Beyond."

The probability that Irene was going to directly affect theJersey Shore and Long Beach Island (a barrier island) where one ofour offices is located became reality on Tuesday and Wednesday,Aug. 23 and 24.

Our real estate division handles several thousand renters in asummer season and we insure most of the properties they occupy. Wehad to prepare all of the tenants already here, the tenantschecking in on Saturday, and all of the landlords to start makingplans to evacuate the island and secure their properties. Likewise,we had to set in motion a plan to secure our office and set up thecontingency plan in place to service our customers when they needus most.

Fortunately, we have two other offices in the surroundingmainland communities with computer access to our customer base socommunication did not have to be interrupted. We also had the peaceof mind of having disaster planning in place with Agility RecoverySolutions in case we lost our facilities, power or both. Ourcomputer system can also be accessed from any PC with codedaccess.

Our insurance staff spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdaycalling, emailing and fielding phone calls from our insurancecustomers/landlords/business owners about securing their propertiesand verifying coverage. We averaged 100 to 200 calls a day fromcustomers looking to raise limits on their policies, lowerdeductibles and buy flood insurance. It is still surprising howmany homeowners and business owners do not carry flood insurancefor their properties located on a barrier island, despite thenotices and disclaimers they receive. But in this case, it’s toolate to get flood coverage with the mandatory 30-day waiting periodin place for NFIP policies.

Because most of our homeowner policies arewritten through excess and surplus lines markets, they are allagency billed. We took special care to call each customer who hadnot yet submitted payments for their renewals and ensure that moneywas received and a policy bound before Irene hit.

Our real estate division visited the properties occupied bysummer tenants and prepared them for possible evacuation of theisland—something that is never well received when people are onvacation. We had to discuss plans bout leaving the premises,returning when permitted, and what amount of rent would bereimbursed.

The evacuation was indeed mandated on Friday, Aug. 26, andeveryone, including us, had to leave by early afternoon. We spentthe rest of Thursday and Friday helping tenants evacuate andhelping our homeowners secure their properties. It is very helpfulto have an up-to-date list of contractors and handyman services toperform these tasks. We had contacted several during the week tomake sure we could help the homeowners.

Irene did not actually come ashore until Saturday evening, butour insureds did not stop calling to help them weather the storm.Having a disaster plan in place to help your insurance customerswhen they need you most is critical.

Related: Read the article by Jeffrey R. Wyrsch"Understand Gen Y."

This is the main message we put out to all of our fellow agents.Without these plans in place, we could not have assisted so manypeople in a 2- to 3-day period. Unlike the tornados and earthquakesthat so many experienced over the summer where there is not anywarning to prepare, we had a plan in place and the time needed toexecute the plan.

Of course, the numbers of phone calls and issues to be handleddo not end when the storm passes. This is when the real fun beginsand is the critical time for an agency to be ready. Communicationis the key and having open phone lines and internet access isparamount.

The first wave of requests on Sunday and Monday were along thelines of, "Did the island survive?", "Please check my property,""Call me back ASAP," and "Can we gain access to the island?" Justby having the staff available to answer the calls and give somereassurance goes a long way to allaying people’s concern.

As soon as the authorities allowed us to re-enter the island,some of the staff moved to check properties for damage while othersfielded calls, or updated homeowners. We emphasized to our staff tobe empathetic with all callers as they feel helpless not knowingwhat happened to their properties.

While we did have hundreds of claims reportedover a 3- to 4-day span, there were not any catastrophic losses inour immediate area. Because the area impacted by Irene did cover afive-state area and a lot of the claims ended up being floodrelated, there was and continues to be a shortage of FEMA-certifiedinspectors. Whether an insured’s claim is large or small, he or shewants an immediate response and a timely settlement of his or herloss.

Here is where a briefing to all available personnel plays amajor role. We try to give the same message across the board to allof our homeowners and business owners:

1. Secure your property
2. Clean up what you can
3. Document all action taken
4. Take as many pictures as possible
5. Contact repair/restoration contractors
6. Get estimates from two or three contractors.

Overall, the response from all of our insurance companies hasbeen outstanding. There always will be outstanding claims lingeringon when a storm affecting such a large area occurs, but it goes along way to communicate often with all claimants to keep them up todate. It’s better that you’re calling them rather than them callingyou. We have an agency policy to contact every claimant weekly togive them an update even if there is nothing new to report. Thecustomer really appreciates this.

Related: Read another article "Take Care ofClients" by Jeffrey R. Wyrsch.

Most problems and unusual situations we have faced since Irenehave to do with loss of rents/loss of business income; not fromdamage of property from a covered peril, but as a result of civilaction—the mandatory evacuation of the area. A lot of theseproblems still remain unresolved but may be a topic for a futurearticle.

A lot of this may seem like Insurance 101, but we can all learnfrom every storm we have to weather.

From our point of view, it is the preparation for these types ofevents before they occur and the amount of communication you givethat will help you and your customers in weathering a storm.