Resources for Employers & Team Members Affected by Flooding

Hospitality Indiana is thinking of the many restaurants, hotels, employees, and families across Central Indiana impacted by this week’s flooding and severe weather.

As our communities begin the recovery process, we know many of you are navigating two challenges at once: supporting employees who may have been affected, while also working to assess damage and reopen your business.

Here are several resources that may be helpful:

• Indiana 211
  • Indiana 211 is a free, confidential resource that connects Hoosiers with local assistance for housing, food, transportation, utilities, and other emergency needs. It is available 24/7.
    • Employees can also dial 211 to speak with a resource navigator.
• Indiana Housing Resources
  • The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority maintains resources for renters and homeowners, including connections to local housing assistance providers and community action agencies.
    • Community Action Agencies may also provide emergency assistance, including temporary shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and other support depending on the county and available resources.
• Disaster Damage Reporting
  • Even if an employee does not yet know whether they qualify for financial assistance, encourage them to document damage and report it through the state’s disaster assessment process. Indiana 211 is being used to collect damage information as part of the state’s recovery assessment.

If your restaurant, hotel, or hospitality business sustained damage, document everything before beginning major cleanup or repairs whenever it is safe to do so. Use this checklist to ensure everything is documented properly:

• Photograph all property, equipment, inventory, and structural damage.
• Keep receipts and records for cleanup, temporary repairs, equipment replacement, and other disaster-related expenses.
• Contact your insurance carrier as soon as possible.
• Document lost revenue or business interruption.
• Check with your local emergency management office regarding damage assessments and recovery resources.
• Monitor state and federal disaster declarations, which may open additional assistance for affected businesses.

In addition, our friends at ServPro Team Zubricki are here and ready to help! Their 24/7 emergency services are available to you as they are dedicated to clean up, repair and restoration needs because a fast response lessens the damage, limits further damage and reduces cost. Click here for more information and to call Jennifer!

A note from the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC), the ATC is offering approved off-site alcohol storage to permittees who may be dealing with weather related issues.  If flooding is impacting a permittee, we want to make sure they can safely store product while they address the issue.  If anyone needs this, please reach out to the Hospitality Indiana team to put you in touch with the ATC.  The ATC will accept a letter from the permittee and add notes to their system indicating where the off-site storage will be.  

If your business has been significantly impacted, or if there is a resource you believe our industry needs, please let us know. We want to help connect our members with the information and support they need to recover.

Our thoughts are with everyone across Central Indiana who has been affected.