After a hurricane, the damage to your building is only part of the cost. The bigger hit can come from the weeks you can’t open, the customers who go elsewhere and the bills that keep coming.

This guide is for Florida business owners: contractors, apartment and property owners, restaurants, stores and others. It covers how to plan, how wind and flood coverage differ, how business income coverage works and what to do before and after a storm. The examples are made up.

Start with a written plan

A business continuity plan is a short, written answer to one question: if we can’t use our building, our systems or some of our people for a while, how do we keep going? Ready.gov suggests starting with the functions you can’t do without, then planning how you’d keep each one running.

A useful plan covers:

  • Who decides. Who closes the business, who reopens it and who talks to employees and customers.
  • How you’ll reach people. A contact list for employees, key customers, suppliers, your landlord and us, kept somewhere you can reach without the office.
  • Your records. Back up financial records, contracts, customer data and your insurance policies off site or in the cloud.
  • Where you’d work. A temporary location, remote work or a partner business you could share space with.
  • Your suppliers. Who you’d call if your main supplier is shut down by the same storm.
  • Cash. How you’d cover payroll, rent and loan payments during the gap before any claim is paid.

Review it each spring before hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

Wind and flood are usually covered separately

This is the most important thing to know about hurricanes and insurance. In most cases:

  • Wind damage is covered by your commercial property policy, or by a separate wind policy, subject to a named storm or windstorm deductible.
  • Flood damage, including storm surge, is generally excluded from standard commercial property policies. It needs a separate flood policy.

A single storm can cause both. That’s why it matters to know, before the season, which policy would respond to which damage, and what each deductible would be.

Named storm and windstorm deductibles

Commercial wind deductibles in Florida are often a percentage of the insured value of the building, rather than a flat dollar amount. A percentage deductible can be much larger than your regular deductible.

Made-up example: A building is insured for $2,000,000 with a 3% named storm deductible. The deductible for a hurricane claim would be $60,000. Some policies apply the deductible to each building or location, so check how yours works.

Flood insurance for businesses

Commercial flood coverage is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and from private insurance companies. Under the NFIP:

  • A non-residential building, such as a store, office or warehouse, can be insured for up to $500,000, and its contents for up to $500,000. An apartment building with five or more units can also be insured for up to $500,000, but the owner’s contents limit is $100,000. Limits apply to each building.
  • There’s generally a 30-day waiting period before a new policy or an increase in coverage takes effect. There are some exceptions, such as when you buy it in connection with making, increasing, extending or renewing a loan on the building.
  • The NFIP does not cover business interruption, the income you lose while you’re closed.

Businesses with higher values, or that want coverage for lost income from a flood, may look at private or excess flood options. The 30-day wait is why flood coverage needs to be in place well before a storm forms. Our NFIP vs. private flood guide compares the two.

Business income coverage: replacing lost income

Business income coverage, often called business interruption, can pay for the income you lose while your business is shut down or slowed after covered damage. It’s usually part of a commercial property policy or a business owners policy. Here’s how it generally works.

What has to happen first

Business income coverage generally applies only when there’s direct physical loss or damage to property, caused by something the policy covers. That point matters with hurricanes:

  • If wind damages your building and wind is covered, business income coverage may pay while it’s repaired.
  • If flood water closes you and your property policy excludes flood, business income on that policy generally won’t pay for the flood damage either.

What it can pay

  • Lost net income you would have earned while you’re closed or slowed down
  • Normal operating expenses that continue while you’re closed, such as payroll and rent
  • Extra expense, the added cost to keep operating, such as renting a temporary space or equipment

The parts that limit it

  • The waiting period. Many policies don’t pay for the first part of a shutdown, often a set number of hours such as 72.
  • The period of restoration. Coverage generally runs for the time it should reasonably take to repair or rebuild, not until business is back to normal.
  • Extended coverage. Some policies add a period after you reopen, while customers come back. The length varies and can be increased.
  • Your limit. After a major storm, repairs can take longer than expected because contractors and materials are in short supply. A limit that looked fine on paper may run out.

Coverage when the damage isn’t at your place

Some of the biggest hurricane losses happen when your own building is fine. Depending on your policy, coverage may be available when:

  • An order from government officials prohibits access to your property because of nearby damage from a covered cause, such as wind. In a common standard form, your property has to be within one mile of the damaged property, lost income coverage starts 72 hours after the order and it lasts up to four weeks. Your policy may differ.
  • A key supplier or customer is damaged and can’t do business with you. This is often called dependent property or contingent business income.
  • Utility service, such as power or water, is cut off by damage to the utility’s property. Many policies limit or exclude this unless it’s added.

These are often limited, and the wording varies a lot. Ask us to walk through which ones your policy includes.

Notes by industry

  • Restaurants and stores: food spoilage and inventory loss from power outages. Check whether your policy covers spoilage, and whether it covers power outages caused by damage away from your property.
  • Apartments and property owners: rental income can stop while units are repaired. Ask whether your policy includes loss of rents or rental value coverage, and how long it lasts.
  • Contractors: projects under construction are usually covered by builders risk, which often has its own named storm deductible and rules. See our job site hurricane checklist.

Plan for key people too

A storm isn’t the only thing that can stop a business. If an owner or key employee can’t work, because of a death or a long illness, the effect can be the same as a closed building.

Key person life insurance and disability coverage can help a business get through that kind of gap. A buy-sell agreement, often funded with life insurance, can set out what happens to an owner’s share. See our key person insurance guide.

Before a storm: a short checklist

The National Hurricane Center usually issues a hurricane watch 48 hours before tropical storm force winds are expected, and a warning 36 hours before.

  • Read your property, wind and flood policies now, before a watch. Know your deductibles.
  • Take dated photos or video of your building, equipment and inventory.
  • Keep an up to date list of equipment and inventory with values.
  • Back up your records off site.
  • Know how to reach your insurance companies to report a claim. Our claims contact page can help.
  • When a watch is issued: secure outdoor items, protect windows and doors, move what you can away from flood-prone areas and follow your plan.
  • Follow evacuation orders from local officials.

After a storm

  • Wait until officials say it’s safe to return.
  • Check on your employees.
  • Take photos and video of damage before cleanup.
  • Take reasonable steps to keep damage from getting worse, such as tarping a roof. Keep receipts.
  • Report the claim to your insurance company and to us as soon as you can.
  • Keep records of lost income and extra costs from the first day: sales records, payroll, receipts and anything that shows what you’d normally earn.
  • After a declared disaster, the U.S. Small Business Administration may offer low-interest disaster loans to eligible businesses for physical damage, and to eligible small businesses for economic injury.

Frequently asked questions

Does business interruption cover a closure from a power outage?

It depends. If the outage comes from damage to your own property by a covered cause, it may. If it comes from damage away from your property, you generally need utility service coverage added to your policy.

Does the NFIP cover my lost income after a flood?

No. NFIP policies don’t cover business interruption. Some private flood policies offer it.

If officials close my road, am I covered?

Maybe. Some policies cover lost income when an order from government officials prohibits access to your property because of nearby damage from a covered cause. A closure or evacuation order issued before any damage happens often doesn’t meet that test. These coverages usually have a distance limit, a waiting period and a short time limit, so check your policy’s wording.

How much business income coverage do I need?

Start with what it would cost to keep the business going if you were closed for several months: lost profit plus the bills that keep coming. After a big storm, repairs can take longer than normal. We can walk through a worksheet with you and your accountant.

Sources

This is general educational information. Examples are fictional and simplified. Coverage depends on each policy’s terms, conditions and endorsements. It also depends on the facts of each claim. Flood program details are from FEMA and can change.

Questions? A licensed member of our team can talk it through with you. McGriff-Williams Insurance is an independent insurance agency in Gainesville, in business since 1983 and licensed in Florida. We’re at 3501 W University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32607. Call (352) 371-7977, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where confidence grows.

Last updated October 31, 2026