Part of Central Turf Farms in Wharton, TX, looked like this last August after Hurricane Harvey. Photo by Keith Wittig off-site? How are property values changing in your area?

Make sure that you keep copies of these records off-site, physically or computerized in virtual storage (in the cloud). Detailed records that burn up in a fire will do you no good. Likewise, a computer that crashes or is destroyed in a disaster with no backup off-site leaves you with nothing.

Regularly photograph equipment, buildings and grounds. Tese photos can visually show conditions and where things were at that point in time. Clean and maintain equipment properly. If you do, it will last longer and be of more value. If you don’t, and an adjuster sees dirty or broken equipment, he or she might, consciously or sub- consciously, devalue lost equipment based on that. If you have retired equipment, or damaged equipment waiting for repair, and you have an incident you should point that out to an adjuster.

Utilize the expertise of your insurance company(s) and agent in developing your record keeping process. Also use their knowledge in developing policies and programs to mitigate loss. What safety features can you implement? What should you include in employee manuals or training

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to reduce or avoid loss? What kind of contact lists should be maintained? Who is responsible for maintaining them? Who must have constant access to them?

Regularly inspect areas to make sure policies and processes are handled correctly. If you don’t do it yourself, make sure those responsible for specific areas are doing so regularly and documenting and reporting it.

You might want to work with a neighboring business, sod producer or otherwise. Take turns looking at each other’s operations and offer suggestions. We tend to overlook things we see on a regular basis. A fresh set of eyes will see things otherwise missed.

Preparing for a Predicted Disaster Sometimes there is advance warning for weather disasters. Hurricanes cover a wide area and their movements are now quite predictable. You have time to take certain precautions to mitigate some of the damage. If you are in an area where hurricanes might occur, have a detailed plan on what should be done, in what order, to protect your property as much as possible. Identify who is responsible

TPI Turf News May/June 2018