Getting Ready For A Tropical Storm /Hurricane
Monday, August 18th, 2008
• Back it up. If you haven’t made a backup of your crucial data, do so now. It’s a good idea to make a second backup that moves your data offsite — either to online storage, or to a secure, physical location. Note: If you are a Krove customer and are paying for backup support chances are your data is already being backed up offsite. Just give us a call and we will be more than happy to verify everything for you
• Write it down. If you don’t have power, but can get online from another location, make sure you have your various passwords so you can check e-mail and e-commerce accounts. If you’ve been relying on your browser’s password cache to log you into sites, you may not remember login information. Gather it now, while you can.
• Move it up. Got a desktop computers on the floor under a desk? Move it up onto the desk. Do the same with any electronics, including surge protectors and Uninterruptible Power supplies. ALSO MAKE SURE TO POWER DOWN YOUR BATTERY BACKUPS. This will prolong there battery life. If you leave the UPS on it’s most likely going to destroy the battery!
• Unplug it. When lightning starts flashing around you, don’t just turn off your electronics — unplug them. A surge protector won’t do much against a direct lightning strike, and even a UPS isn’t a guarantee against damage. In fact, move the devices’ plugs as far away from the outlets as you can. I’ve talked to sad computer owners who unplugged their systems and dropped the cords on the floor by the outlets, only to have a direct strike cause electricity to arc between the outlet and the nearby plug’s prongs.
• Disconnect it. In addition to unplugging from electrical outlets, also unplug any phone and cable connections. It’s also not a bad idea to disconnect the cables between computers on a home network.
• Charge it. Make sure your notebook computer and cell-phone batteries are fully charged, just as you’ll want to keep your car’s gas tank filled. Of course, if you’re without power, you may not have broadband Internet access, either.
• Cover it. In a really bad storm with high winds that could damage roofs and allow water to enter your home, consider covering your electronic in plastic. Move them to a central location of your home and off the floor. This may be good advice even in a tropical storm, which can still spawn tornadoes, even if the storm’s sustained winds aren’t that bad.