Natural disasters seem to be competing with ransomware for the coveted “Worst Thing to Happen to Datacenters” award of 2021. Ransomware attacks are certainly on the rise, but natural disasters don’t want you to forget about them just yet. According to the NOAA, the losses from natural disasters in the US have already exceeded $1 billion in 2021. Whatever your beliefs regarding the causes of extreme weather, it has a significant impact on the world around us – and organizations of all types need to be prepared.
As of this writing, the Dixie fire is now the second-largest fire in California history and has destroyed 500,000 acres and over 400 structures so far – and it is only 21 percent contained after three weeks. The largest in California’s history was only last year and was double its size. Sadly, the Dixie fire is only one of several fires blazing on the West Coast. Several tropical storms have already been reported in the Southeast, and there have been major floods in many metropolitan areas that came without warning this summer. We even had something called a derecho appear in Ohio, which is a hurricane that forms over land.