"Bring It," Small Biz Says to Hurricane

Kitty Code's Hurricane app tracks a hurricane's progress and provides advice for those in its path.

Image: iTunes store

For most people, a hurricane is a time to hunker down, stay inside, and just try to stay out of nature’s way. But for some small businesses, there’s opportunity and obligation.

“What a beautiful day today!” the Boston-based Japanese restaurant Gari Fusion tweeted on Friday morning. “Hope #Irene won't be too harsh on our delivery drivers this wkend. Despite weather, we still deliver!” Now that’s dedication.

But Gari Fusion’s delivery drivers weren’t alone in stepping up services in the face of Hurricane Irene. Fresh Direct, a New York Web-based grocery-delivery service, was another that answered the call of duty. Faced with increased orders from customers wanting to stock up before the big storm hit, Fresh Direct initially extended its Saturday delivery hours, but a mandatory evacuation meant it couldn't follow through. A spokesperson for the company was unavailable to comment further, but that’s probably because she was busy replying to queries on the company’s Twitter feed.

A number of hurricane-related smartphone apps are out there, but perhaps the most comprehensive is Hurricane, developed by the Orlando-based company Kitty Code. Version 3.6 was launched just days before Irene decided to visit, which was a coincidence says cofounder Ilene Jones. The app, which has about 100,000 customers and is currently selling at a discount, provides updates about bring prepared, feeds from meteorologists, and updates from the National Hurricane Center. The goal is to help get the news out about what you should do, says Jones, and to explain things that the mainstream media doesn’t—like why you should evacuate before you have to.

And for cloud service Dropbox, the hurricane brought a proud surprise. When the New York City website, with all its important hurricane-related information, went down under the pressure on Friday morning, Dropbox came to the rescue. One of the service’s users—nobody knows who—mirrored the entire site on their Dropbox account and made it public.

Are there other companies that went above and beyond to help their customers get through the hurricane? What did your business do to prepare? Let us know in the comments below.

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