A week ago, the sun began to poke out of clouds. The same sky that brought destruction became, once more, a source of hope.
We realized we’d been holding our breath for days. Bracing against the storm took its toll. When the winds died down and the rains lifted, we finally exhaled. It was over. We could begin to mend the damage.
There were still people to rescue. Flooding rivers and waterways still posed huge problems. Everything wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, but there was a sense of relief.
The impact of Hurricane Harvey will be with us for a while. We’re still in the process of discovering the extent of the damage. Recovery will take time. Those of us who saw it first-hand will remember it for the rest of our lives.
I’ve always said that when disaster strikes, that’s the time to focus on your family, your neighbors and your friends – the people you work with and care about. I’ve said that for years, but I’ve never witnessed anything of this scale. While the damage was far greater than I could have predicted, I’m so thankful we had time to prepare.
We had customers without power or internet service for days. Flood waters washed out their buildings. Sewage lines were overloaded to the point of bursting. In one case, an entire roof was blown off. Our customers were certainly affected, but we hope they were able to focus on what matters the most – their people.
In the middle of all that chaos, we did what we do. We protected their data.
For many of our customers, their business is their life’s work. It’s their livelihood, their passion and their purpose. They need that income now more than ever to help with recovery, so we take our part in stabilizing and protecting their business very seriously.
We got through Harvey without any kind of critical failure. In fact, our customers experienced zero data loss. We’re grateful for that and so proud of our team.
On top of that, our vendor partner, Datto, sent a crew of their “top technicians to the affected area with a truck full of Business Continuity and Networking equipment to assist any partners in need.” They also implemented a Code Rem team to “assist with critical backups and recoveries during the crisis” (received by email from founder and CEO Austin McChord).
Thursday, before the storm, one of the VP’s even called to make sure our customers were well prepared. We are thrilled to partner with a vendor that shares our values. They’ve definitely earned our Texas Strong respect.
Later this week I’ll post a video from our founder and CEO, Whit Ehrich, on the differences between backups and Backup Disaster Recovery. For now, contact us if you would like more information.
And wherever you are, be safe.