What would you do if a hurricane hit Bermuda and how would you ensure the safety of your business and its staff?

Those are just some of the issues Humanitarian Operations (HOPE) has been set up to deal with.

For the evacuation specialist, which is part funded by 12 governments from across the world, handles the effects of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, at a time when globally we are more susceptible than ever.

"There have been more Category 3, 4 and 5 storms than ever in recorded history during the last few years," said Jake Dubbing from HOPE.

"That renders islands, like Bermuda, more probable in terms of vulnerability because in the south states of the US you can drive north, but when you have a Category 5 storm that is when it becomes rather dangerous to stay."

Mr. Dubbing said Bermuda has a lot going for it in the event of a hurricane, in terms of building costs and elevation, but there are a number of weak points on the Island, including the airport, which is at sea level, and if its only runway is put out of action by the storm then aircraft, such as Boeing 747 passenger jets, necessary for evacuation cannot be brought in. Additionally, if the Causeway is rendered unusable that blocks off access to the airport, while Bermuda only has one power source, and if that shuts down businesses would be in trouble.

"To do business you have to have power source," he said.

"If there was a problem with that power source then businesses would be in trouble."

He said that, should a hurricane strike, company owners and managers will always want to protect the most important part of a business, namely employees first followed by data.

"With Category 4 or 5 storms, the principle is that if you remove people from the operation you protect their lives and business," he said.

"If you are a business and you stay you are really have a business recovery plan that can fail.

"You have any clients abroad and you can't communicate with them that client is going to become slightly nervous.

"The way that we work is to encourage people to leave before the storm."

Some business sign up all of their staff to the evacuation scheme, while others only include their 'business critical' members and immediate family and offer the rest of their employees the chance to join if they want. Often companies put some of their more peripheral workers on the early evacuation flights and ship out their key backroom staff such as IT specialists later.

"Our job is to get you back here as soon as possible," said Mr Dubbing.

"We will bring you back as soon as the facilities are there to do so.

"We effectively ask for companies to contribute financially to ensure their safety and to continue their business without a hiccup.

"The two most important things for a business are people first and then data and it is a case of them thinking about what they would do now instead of when the storm hits."

There a seven simple steps to the HOPE evacuation process.

1) Issuing of boarding passes and additional information needed - HOPE require client contact details, hotel room requirements and pet certification.

2) Commencement of evacuation - HOPE issue a disaster rating of 7 or more (a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, or if the Island is expected to be hit by the north east quadrant of a Category 3, 4 or 5) and therefore recommend evacuating.

3) Confirmation of flight - when HOPE issue a disaster rating of 7 or higher evacuation commences and the client must confirm the flight they will be travelling on 24 hours prior to departure by phone or email.

4) Reservation of hotel accommodation - HOPE offer three flight destinations including Atlanta, Memphis and Nassau in The Bahamas and when your flight is conformed your destination and accommodation requirements are finalised. They also reserve your accommodation at your chosen destination, providing your credit card details to pay for the reservation.

5) Transportation - HOPE will organise for the collection of corporate clients with 20 people or more travelling together from one location and their representatives will be on hand to help with car parking. If the roads become blocked they will facilitate alternative transport to the airport.

6) Check in - HOPE do not allocate seats prior to boarding in order to reduce time to administer the evacuation process and when checking in they confirm the client has not exceeded the ticket allocation.

7) At the destination - HOPE's representatives will arrange all of the necessary ground transportation to your hotel on arrival at your destination.

Standard membership costs $400 upwards and evacuation service tickets range from $1,000 per person and HOPE are planning to run a series of seminars for companies on the Island to educate them about the risks posed by natural disasters to their businesses, explain how they can get them out in the event of an emergency and give them some practical tips and advice on what they can do about it.

"Businesses are very interested in what we do because if you need to have an effective disaster recovery plan in place and you want to eliminate everything that cannot work," said Mr. Dubbing.

"All of this has been borne out of the devastation that hit the Cayman Islands and with Hurricane Katrina. Businesses have to wake up to the reality that natural disasters are going to happen and if there are facilities to protect yourself then you should protect yourself."

For further information about HOPE Mr. Dubbing on 1 242 362 0025 or email to:

jake.hope@coralwave.com