Other disaster planners are also beefing up the infrastructures that support their data centers: power systems; telephone and Internet connections; pumps; and even spare batteries for cell phones and laptops. "For communication, it was imperative that we stock up on extra batteries," said Jim Desjarlais, IT director for Lee County in southwest Florida.

In addition, IT organizations such as Lee County's are making arrangements to help one another if necessary. Desjarlais belongs to the Florida Local Government Information Systems Association , which has 140 members. Should he lose his data centers, several other counties in Florida have agreed to host his applications, he said.

Harold Schomaker, CIO for the city of Largo, Fla., is working through the same association to develop mutual IT assistance agreements that involve leasing space for backup systems in other data centers. "A lot of the cities that have sustained quite a bit of damage [from storms] are just getting to the point where they can start looking hard at doing this stuff," he said.

However, expanded disaster-recovery planning and outside help can only do so much in the face of an approaching hurricane. "Everybody's getting a little nervous at this time of year," Desjarlais said.