I’m a small business owner and I evacuated. What do I need to know?

In preparation for Hurricane Matthew and the evacuation for coastal South Carolina communities, you’ve probably filled your gas tank, piled cases of water in the trunk of your car, brought all your copies of important documents, packed and are set up to leave. But what about that important part of your life that you can’t take with you: your business?

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce hosted a conference call Wednesday with Dave Perry, the private sector coordinator with the state Emergency Management Division to answer questions about business during a State of Emergency, evacuation and what to do for reentry.

Above all, Perry said he recommends business owners registering with the state’s Emergency Reentry Certification system, since the laws regarding post-disaster reentry changed during the summer. He said he currently has 200 businesses already registered.

“If you register through our website, I will forward to you a memorandum of agreement which outlines those responsibilities of (the) Emergency Management Division and you as a vendor,” he said. “It’s a document that provides you access for re-entry and under curfew conditions when there is not a life-health safety issue at hand.”

Perry said one of the most commonly asked questions was whether you have to close your business for an evacuation.

“Please know when I say this, I say it sincerely and not callous ... the governor ordered an evacuation for a reason,” he said. “(Emergency Management Division looks) at it from an incident management, from a public safety perspective and from a business perspective that you comply with the evacuation.”

The biggest problem vendors have after an event like a storm or hurricane is not have a business continuity plan, like keeping records protected, according to Perry.

“Some of the most important information you got — you know what that is, that is payroll, that is anything that tracks financial management or lifeline for your business entity — ... all of that needs to be backed up electronically, off-site or through the cloud,” he said. “And if you got to maintain that archived in hard copy, that’s something that has to go out with you.”

In regards to re-entry and reopening your business, Perry said it’s ultimately up to local officials to decide who is allowed to re-enter an evacuated area and that things like utilities are usually implemented first.

“It is absolutely in no one’s interest to inhibit a business from getting back in as soon as possible,” he said. “The fastest way to restore normalcy in any community is to get our business partners’ doors back open and get employees back to work, but that really begins with the restoration of key vital utilities — energy power, communications, etc.”

To ask a storm-related question or to find out the answers to questions that have already been asked, please click here.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "I’m a small business owner and I evacuated. What do I need to know?."