Before the Storm: Protecting Your Printers, Files, and Phone System This Hurricane Season

December 1st, 2026

Paper airplanes swirling upward through a blue sky like a storm.

Storms Test the Systems Nobody Thinks About

Hurricane season in Louisiana runs from June 1 through November 30. The forecast changes every year. The checklist for an office does not. Before a storm has a name, there is still time to move equipment, copy records, and decide how the phones will answer if the power does not come back.

Most offices think first about people, buildings, and insurance. The copier in the workroom, the file cabinets in the back office, and the phone system in a closet are usually last on the list. They are also among the hardest systems to replace from memory after a storm has passed.

What Water, Wind, and Power Do to Office Equipment

Three forces cause most storm damage to office technology.

Water: Flooding and roof leaks ruin paper, circuit boards, toner, and hard drives. Even high humidity can leave moisture inside a machine that was never touched by a flood.
Wind and debris: Broken windows let in rain and grit. A machine that looks dry on the outside can have debris inside the paper path, fans, and fuser area.
Power: Outages are only part of the problem. The surge when power returns, and the repeated brownouts before it stabilizes, can damage power supplies, network cards, and controllers.

A dropped connection or a failed copier feels minor next to a damaged building. For a small firm, though, a week without printing, scanning, or phone service can stall billing, client communication, and payroll.

Start With the Power

Every device that holds data or connects to your network should sit behind protection. That includes the copier, the network switch, the phone system, the server, and the router.

Uninterruptible power supplies keep equipment running long enough for a clean shutdown and smooth the small surges that happen all day. Surge protectors absorb the spike when utility power returns. A generator is only useful if the transfer switch and the circuits it feeds have been tested. Ask when the last test happened and which outlets stay live.

Label the breakers that feed the server closet, phone equipment, and copier room. In an evacuation, someone may need to shut those circuits down quickly and safely.

Protect the Printers and Copiers

Printers and copiers are heavy, full of paper, and often parked on the floor. That combination is exactly wrong for a storm.

Move floor level machines onto pallets, blocks, or sturdy tables before floodwater reaches the building.
Pull them away from windows and exterior walls.
Unplug power and network cables before the storm arrives. A cord left connected is a path for a surge.
Remove paper from trays and bypass feeders, and bag loose reams in plastic.
Cover the machine with a tarp or heavy plastic, then secure it so wind cannot pull the cover away.
Pull toner and ink cartridges when the manufacturer allows it. Store them upright in a dry interior room.
Photograph the model and serial number plates. Those photos save time on insurance and service calls.
Export the address book, scan to email settings, and any saved job or department codes if the machine supports it.

A fleet under managed print services usually has a current equipment inventory on file. Ask your provider for it before the season starts, and keep a printed copy with your storm kit.

Get Files Out of the Flood Zone

Paper is the most fragile record in the building. It absorbs water, grows mold within days, and cannot be rebuilt from a backup.

The offices that recover fastest are the ones that scanned their critical records long before the storm. Client files, contracts, insurance policies, employee records, and financial documents should live in a system that is reachable from another location. Our document management team helps offices build that library, and document scanners turn paper into searchable files at the point of receipt.

Keep a copy off site. Cloud storage counts only if someone has verified that the account works from outside the office and that the files can be opened. A backup nobody has restored is a hope, not a plan. Test the restore before hurricane season, not during it.

For records that must stay on paper, move the cabinets above the flood line, wrap them in plastic, and label the contents. If a file matters enough to keep, it matters enough to scan.

Keep the Phone System Answering

Clients call when the storm is on the news. If the office phone system goes silent, callers assume the worst or call someone else.

Modern business phone systems can forward calls to cell phones, play an alternate greeting, and route messages to email. Set that plan up in advance and write it down. Someone should know how to log in and change the greeting from a phone that is not in the building.

Older on site phone systems need their own protection. Put the control unit and voicemail server on a UPS, keep the battery fresh, and make sure the network gear that carries calls has backup power too. A VoIP phone without a working switch is just a plastic handset.

Print a contact list for key employees, vendors, your phone provider, your IT provider, and your insurance agent. When the network is down, a paper list is the only directory you have.

Build a Storm Kit for Office Technology

Keep one bin, labeled and stored above the floor, with the supplies you will want in a hurry.

Plastic sheeting, tarps, and zip ties for equipment and file cabinets
Heavy duty extension cords and spare surge protectors
Fresh batteries for UPS units, flashlights, and radios
External drive with a current copy of critical files
Printed contact list, equipment inventory, and vendor agreements
Labels and markers for tagging machines and boxes
Moisture absorbing packs for the server closet

The Week Before a Storm

Confirm the evacuation plan and who has authority to shut systems down.
Run a full backup and verify it, including the document management system and phone voicemail.
Print the contact list and equipment inventory.
Test the generator and the UPS batteries.
Move equipment and records above the expected flood line.
Set the phone greeting and call forwarding plan.
Photograph every room, machine, and file wall for insurance.
Tell clients how to reach the office if the main number is down.

After the Storm: Wait Before You Power On

Do not plug in a machine that was wet, even if it has dried. Moisture inside a power supply or fuser can cause a short, a fire, or a second failure. Have a technician inspect any device that was exposed to water or ran during unstable power.

Check for hidden damage in the paper path, the toner area, and the network card. Document everything with photos before cleanup begins. Insurance claims and service tickets move faster when the record is complete.

Bring systems back in order: network, phones, servers, then printers and copiers. Test one device before powering the whole room. Confirm the backup restored before anyone starts creating new files on top of old ones.

Practice the Plan Before You Need It

A storm plan that lives in a binder nobody opened is not a plan. Walk through the shutdown once with the people who will actually do it. Time how long it takes to move the copier, unplug the rack, and change the phone greeting. Fix what is awkward while the weather is calm.

U.S. Copy has supported New Orleans businesses for over four decades, through storms, outages, and equipment refreshes. We can inventory your printers and copiers, help you plan records storage, and coordinate the phone and network side through our managed IT services.

Posted in: Managed IT