Superstorm Sandy smacked hard small businesses in Connecticut, but they fared better than peers in two other northeast states who sustained a chain-reaction of headaches once last October’s tempest blew the power out, a survey from Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. shows.
According to the Hartford property-casualty insurer’s survey, small firms’ biggest problems traced to connectivity issues such as phone and Internet service (56 percent), following the hurricane that diminished to “tropical storm” status once it reached Connecticut shores. New York and New Jersey firms also were surveyed.
The survey also found that 71 percent of impacted owners experienced power outage, which likely led to temporary disruptions in business operations.
In addition, approximately three-fourths (74 percent) of impacted owners had to temporarily close their doors for seven days on average. While only 11 percent experienced structural property damage, 52 percent sustained sales and revenue to Sandy.
Despite that, approximately nine in 10 owners (87 percent) said that they were equally or better prepared than other small businesses in their area.
One out of four impacted small business owners (25 percent) prepared for Storm Sandy by creating backup copies of critical data and programs, while 20 percent prepared an emergency kit with essentials (e.g., flashlights, water) and the same amount protected their buildings from the elements (e.g., boarded up a storefront).
The survey, which was fielded nearly three months after the storm struck the East Coast, also found that:
• Customer issues (65 percent), employee issues (47 percent) and supplier issues (44 percent) were challenges for impacted owners during or after the storm;
• One-third (36 percent) of small business owners impacted said that they were impacted significantly;
• More male small business owners (42 percent) reported that they were significantly impacted compared to female small business owners (28 percent);
• In addition, more impacted respondents had to close their businesses for a period of time in New York (81 percent) and New Jersey (78 percent), compared to Connecticut (64 percent); and
• Impacted small business owners in New Jersey were more likely to have experienced power outage (82 percent) than those in Connecticut and New York (71 percent and 62 percent respectively).
