Workshop to Help Tallahassee, Fla., Businesses Cope with Flooding.

Byline: Rachel Sams

Jul. 25--Years ago, heavy rains in Tallahassee meant flooding at the Watkins Engineers & Constructors building on Airport Drive. Tropical storms brought deluges that sent employees' cars floating out of the parking lot and left the company's payroll computer under 2 feet of water.

The two or three major floods at the Airport Drive building cost the company more than $400,000, officials estimate. Since then, the business has done two things to prevent that from happening again -- Watkins moved to a new location on Maryland Circle and developed a disaster plan.

Having a disaster plan "makes your employees a lot more comfortable," Watkins president Eddie Aaron said. "It eliminates problems before they happen." …