Perimeter Security Strategies for Disaster-Prone Commercial Sites

In 2024, the U.S. experienced 27 weather events that, combined, caused a staggering $182.7 billion in losses. And that’s only a small fraction of a jaw-dropping $2.9 trillion in losses caused by natural disasters since 1980.

Investing in security solutions that stay online when the grid doesn’t is the first step. The next step is implementing those solutions effectively. That’s where a perimeter security strategy comes in. 

In this blog, we’ll give a disaster management overview and explain how a perimeter security strategy helps you maintain visibility and control at the edge of your site, so everything inside the perimeter stays secure. 

What Is Disaster Management?

The definition of disaster management is the process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and severe storms. For commercial properties, disaster management often focuses on protecting physical assets, but it also involves keeping personnel safe, maintaining continuity of operations, and coordinating with emergency services. Effective disaster management reduces downtime, limits financial loss, and accelerates recovery.

Disaster Management Overview: What Are Commercial Properties Up Against?

Natural disaster management is, unfortunately, something many business owners and property managers are all too familiar with. Roughly one-third of commercial property owners across the U.S. have experienced damage from a natural disaster in the last five years. That number is even higher in wildfire-prone states and coastal regions that face frequent hurricanes.

When disaster strikes, those responsible for commercial properties are tasked with protecting large, open sites—like construction zones, parking lots, apartment complexes, or storage yards—filled with high-value assets like equipment, vehicles, materials, or unoccupied buildings. 

Keeping those sites secure during ideal conditions is already a lofty task, but it becomes even more difficult during and following disasters. Roads may be blocked. Power and communication lines might be down. Security staff can’t (or shouldn’t) go on-site due to hazardous conditions. And in many cities, up to 20% of law enforcement becomes unavailable due to road closures, personal emergencies, or disaster response duties. That leaves some site managers to fend for themselves, just as the risk of looting, vandalism, and trespassing spikes.

Secure Your Perimeter

Your perimeter is your first line of defense. When it’s secured with the right tools, you can keep track of who comes and goes from your property, detect threats early, and shut potential problems down fast. When it’s not secure, everything inside the perimeter is vulnerable. 

A robust perimeter security strategy might leverage surveillance, motion detection, lighting, fencing, and deterrents like alarms or loudspeakers. But, how do you build one that holds up under pressure? Consider the following tips and best practices. 

1. Assess Your Site’s Vulnerabilities

The first step is to look at your site through a disaster-specific lens. Walk the boundary and identify where visibility is (or could become) limited, which access points are unsecured, and where your most valuable assets sit in relation to the outer edge. Are there gates that won’t hold up in high winds? Are materials or equipment stored close to the fence line? Think beyond typical operations; assume the lights are out, staff can’t be on-site, and responders may not get there for days. 

2. Invest in Solutions That Don’t Rely on the Power Grid or WiFi

If your security solutions are tied to the grid, they probably won’t be there for you when you need them. Hurricanes knock out power. Wildfires damage communication lines. Even a severe storm can take you offline for days.  You need a durable, self-sufficient solution. LVT’s surveillance cameras run on solar power with backup batteries and smart generators. They also rely on cellular networks instead of WiFi, so when everything goes offline, they keep recording, detecting, and protecting.

→ Explore LVT’s natural disaster management solutions.

3. Detect and Deter Threats

Visibility is only part of the equation. Once a threat is detected, you must be able to deter it. Features like strobe lights and two-way speakers can warn off looters and other potential wrongdoers in real time. And if you have an AI-powered system, you don’t have to worry about watching a feed 24/7 and manually triggering these features; your system can do that for you. 

LVT’s agentic AI can identify suspicious behaviors—like an unauthorized perimeter breach—and trigger responses (like lighting up the unit, playing a personalized voice warning, or sounding an alarm) without human intervention. This is especially valuable during and after disasters, when personnel are stretched thin and might not have the bandwidth to sit in a room monitoring surveillance feeds and triggering responses all day. 

→ Whether it's hurricanes shutting down power grids, wildfires clouding camera visibility with smoke, or tornadoes ripping infrastructure apart, there’s no denying it: traditional security systems often fail when disaster strikes. And that’s a problem, because the risk doesn’t end when the storm passes; it usually escalates. The power goes out, law enforcement gets spread thin, sites are left exposed, and criminals strike.  Read how LVT’s agentic AI is transforming the security landscape.

4. Keep Watch From Afar

Automated systems can handle some real-time deterrence, but you still need a way to oversee the bigger picture, which is tricky when access to your site is limited or on-site conditions are unsafe. Remote visibility gives you the control and context you need to make fast, informed decisions. LVT’s cloud-connected platform lets you view live video feeds, review recorded footage, adjust PTZ camera views, and activate deterrents manually if needed—all from any smart device with an internet connection. 

Strengthen Natural Disaster Management with LVT

Natural disasters disrupt your operations, make it hard to respond to threats quickly, and create the perfect moment for opportunistic criminals to strike. By securing your perimeter, you harden the target, but only the right solutions will keep it secure when Mother Nature does her worst. 

With scalable, flexible, off-grid surveillance, automated deterrents, and remote access, LVT helps you defend your site, even when power is out, infrastructure is down, and your team is pulled in every direction.

To learn how LVT supports you before, during, and after natural disasters, contact our team.