How to Protect Your Assets with Ever changing Climates

[Christian Welch]

Building Business Resilience In Commercial Real Estate

You can’t control when natural disasters strike—but you can control how prepared your business is when they do. A well-designed business resiliency strategy helps commercial and multifamily real estate owners minimize disruption to operations, protect assets, and support residents before, during, and after extreme weather events.

In 2024 alone, the United States experienced 27 weather and climate disasters resulting in $1 billion or more in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With the frequency and severity of events such as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and winter storms continuing to rise, resiliency planning is no longer optional—it’s a core part of responsible property ownership.

Below is a practical five-step framework commercial real estate owners can use to strengthen their resilience strategy.

1. Identify and Assess Disaster Risk

Every effective resilience plan begins with a clear understanding of risk. Property owners should evaluate the natural hazards that could impact their portfolio, including floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and severe winter weather.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) tools and resources can help assess location-specific risks and hazard exposure. Beyond external threats, it's equally important to evaluate internal vulnerabilities, such as:

• Aging building systems or infrastructure
• Structural weaknesses
• Limited emergency experience among staff
• Insufficient backup power or communications systems

Don’t overlook third-party dependencies either. Utilities, internet providers, maintenance vendors, and emergency services all play a role in your ability to respond effectively. Understanding where these partners may be vulnerable allows you to plan contingencies before a crisis occurs.

2. Design and Communicate Resiliency Plans

Once risks are identified, develop scenario-based resiliency plans tailored to each hazard. These plans should be clear, actionable, and widely communicated.

Focus on Essential Services

Start by identifying the most critical services your properties must maintain or restore quickly—such as water, power, heat, life-safety systems, and communications. Evaluate how each disaster scenario could disrupt those services and determine alternative ways to deliver them.

This approach helps prioritize resources and ensures your team focuses first on what matters most to safely stabilize operations and residents.

Address Residents’ Evolving Needs

Residents’ expectations have changed, particularly with the rise of remote work and smart building technology. Power and internet outages don’t just affect comfort—they can disrupt employment, healthcare access, and building operations.

In many cases, restoring internet connectivity may be nearly as critical as restoring electricity, water, and heat. Resiliency planning should reflect these modern realities.

Prepare Staff and Residents Through Clear Communication

Effective communication is the backbone of any emergency response.

Staff should be trained on:

• Emergency procedures and escalation paths
• Individual roles and responsibilities
• How to communicate with residents during disruptions
• Where to access critical documentation and contacts

Residents should receive straightforward guidance on:

• Evacuation routes and shelter-in-place procedures
• Emergency contact information
• How and where updates will be communicated

When it comes to emergency messaging, simplicity is key. Start with what the audience needs to know, avoid unnecessary complexity, and ensure information is easy to access under stress.

3. Put Plans to the Test

A resiliency plan is only as good as its execution. Regular testing ensures your plans work as intended and your team is prepared to act.

Testing

Testing validates systems and processes. Examples include:

• Running emergency notification systems or call trees
• Verifying contact information for staff and residents
• Confirming backup power and life-safety systems function properly

Simulations

Simulations bring people together to practice responding to realistic scenarios, such as hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, or prolonged power outages. These exercises may include staff, vendors, and—when appropriate—residents.

For example, when simulating a severe storm that causes property damage and power loss, consider:

• Extent of damage: What areas are unsafe? What must be shut down? How long will repairs take?
• Insurance considerations: Is the damage covered, and do staff know the claims process?
• Evacuation readiness: How will residents be supported during and after evacuation orders?
• Communication challenges: How will you reach people if phones or email are unavailable?
• Utility coordination: Do you know who to contact, and do you have backup power solutions in place?

These exercises should be conducted regularly and treated as learning opportunities—not check-the-box tasks. You can’t practice effectively in the middle of a real incident.

4. Respond and Review

Every incident—real or simulated—provides valuable lessons. After-action reviews should focus on both immediate fixes and broader insights that can strengthen resilience across your entire portfolio.

This process requires honesty, accountability, and leadership support. Organizations must be willing to acknowledge missteps, adjust assumptions, and continuously improve.

A strong culture of resilience starts at the top and encourages teams to ask, “What can we do better next time?”

5. Monitor and Update Plans

Resilience is not a one-time effort. Plans should be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect:

• Property upgrades or changes
• Staff turnover or new vendors
• Evolving climate risks
• Lessons learned from recent incidents or exercises

Ongoing monitoring is equally important. Ask critical questions:

• Are drills, tests, and simulations occurring as scheduled?
• Have identified vulnerabilities been addressed?
• Is insurance coverage appropriate for current property conditions and risk exposure?

Final Thoughts

Resilience isn’t a niche initiative or a compliance exercise—it’s a core business responsibility. For commercial and multifamily real estate owners, proactive resiliency planning protects not only physical assets, but also residents, staff, cash flow, and long-term value.

In today’s risk environment, resilience isn’t optional. Resilience is everybody’s business.