BizSugar.com › Products and Services › Office Depot Offers Last-Minute Tips for Small Businesses to Prepare for Hurricane Earl - MarketWatch

As Hurricane Earl, a category 3 storm, is predicted to make landfall, Office Depot, a leading global provider of office products and services, is urging small businesses along the mid-Atlantic coastline to get prepared.Hurricane Earl is predicted to pass within 50 miles of the Outer Banks of North Carolina early Friday morning, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is the second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, which experts are predicting to be average, prompting the urgency for timely and thorough preparation of both home and business.While the most important step in hurricane preparation is to ensure the safety of family and friends, business owners also need to protect their organization and property in order to bring operations up-to-speed as quickly as possible after the storm. Not only is valuable data and property at risk, but also the ability to financially support employees who might not have the ability to endure a lapse in pay due to the storm.