The following goals should be at the crux of any emergency plan:

1. Employee and customer safety should be your first priority: Employees are a company's most valuable asset. Evaluate staffing needs and promote safety. Constant communication, accommodating employees and visitors and securing the property where your business resides will help keep your people at the forefront of your plan.
2. Maintain business continuity: Chicago businesses should revisit their business continuity plans to ensure that contingencies exist for not being able to freely access their place of business on May 20 and 21; key employees and staff cannot get to work those days; information is lost because of power outage or network system goes down; and suppliers are unable to deliver.
3. Have immediate access to your repair and claims contacts: The potential threats to businesses generally fall into three areas: physical property damage, inability to function because of physical property damage and business closure or blocked access to a business. Each scenario might be covered by policies already be in place, but verify coverages, limits, conditions and deductibles. Be prepared to act immediately to repair any damage to prevent additional loss.
4. Have one person monitor social networks: Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook can be important sources for up-to-date information on whether trouble's brewing, and where. Designating one person to this task will help create a clear communication channel.