June marks the beginning of hurricane season. Are you ready? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has already predicted an above-average hurricane season. What could that mean for your Main Street district? NOAA predicts that there will be 13 – 19 named storms this season — of those, 6 – 10 will be hurricanes and 3 – 5 will become major hurricanes (Category 3 and above). We now know that hurricanes can devastate communities far from the coast by creating catastrophic rain events, like Hurricane Beryl in Vermont in 2023 and Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina in 2024. Thankfully, there’s still time for your community to get ready.

Published last year, Main Street America’s Main Street Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Toolkit offers detailed guidance to increase resiliency in your community. Begin with these steps to assess what your district needs to do to become hurricane-ready. 

Identify Your Local Resources

Connect with your county emergency management agency. This should be your first contact before and after a hurricane. The emergency management agency should be aware of your Main Street program and how you engage with local businesses. You can also look up your state’s emergency management agency to stay up-to-date with the latest news, access state disaster plans, identify local contacts, and apply for mitigation grants that can help your community minimize damage from natural disasters. 

Review or Create Your Disaster Preparedness Plan

The toolkit provides resources to support you through every step of the disaster preparedness planning process. If you already have a plan, start by reviewing and updating it. However, if this is your first disaster preparedness plan and you need something for this hurricane season, your best bet is FEMA’s OPEN Training. It has everything you need right out of the box. FEMA’s OPEN Training is a valuable resource for your organization and small businesses, offering comprehensive materials that include a slideshow presentation, an instructor guidebook, and worksheets. It’s ready-made and approachable for any Main Street manager.

Inventory Your Historic Assets

Rehabilitating and saving historic resources along your commercial corridor is what makes your Main Street district unique and special. Historic preservation is a core value for Main Street, and to achieve this, we need an inventory of the buildings along the corridor. Without a comprehensive inventory, FEMA won’t know what buildings to save or demolish should a disaster strike. An inventory can also help you track which properties are most vulnerable to a natural disaster. Is the building susceptible to flooding? If so, can you use sandbags to mitigate these effects? Does the building have slow stormwater drains, loose power lines, and dead branches nearby? Do building owners have appropriate insurance?

Start by contacting your local historic preservation commission or planning staff to determine if they already have a historic resources inventory. If you can’t use an existing inventory, you can start building your own. I recommend using Main Street America’s Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) Tracker. This interactive, GIS-based inventory tool allows you to build your inventory on a smartphone, laptop, or other connected device. Adding all the buildings in your district is a perfect job for a summer intern or passionate volunteer. The information stored in the BOOMS tracker will be useful for insurance claims and disaster recovery grants, as well as for many other purposes. 
 

Become a Certified Local Government

Certified Local Governments are specially designated communities by the National Park Service that meet specific historic preservation standards and receive priority for national and state historic preservation grants. Your State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will serve as a valuable resource for protecting your historic resources.

Connect with Small Business Owners

One easy way to engage business owners in the disaster preparedness conversation is by using the Ready Business Hurricane Toolkit. Distributing the toolkit offers an opportunity to encourage each business to complete a self-assessment —a 13-question checklist — to help them develop a simple business continuity plan. Your Main Street organization can lead the way and share how your organization is preparing the community. 

Get Communication Ready

Do you have a communications plan for a natural disaster? How will your Main Street organization reach its employees if the internet is down? How will you communicate with your small businesses to get the word out on conditions downtown? Keeping customers informed about business openings on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok is critical for business continuity and recovery. This involves knowing when to proceed with caution and when the time is right to announce that your downtown is ​“open for business.”

Resilient Main Streets

While hurricanes and their aftermath can be devastating, one advantage they do have over other natural disasters is that we still have time to prepare. It can all seem overwhelming for just one person to take on, so don’t be afraid to collaborate with staff, board members, volunteers, and your community. Delegate, delegate, delegate! By taking each step outlined here, your Main Street organization can be prepared when the hurricane warning flags are raised.
 

Downtown Decorations, a Main Street America Allied Member, is this quarter’s Main Spotlight advertiser. For more information about what they do to support Main Street organizations, click here.