Tidewater has since set up a second data center in Dallas, spending about US$500,000 for new hardware that was installed there and at its existing IT facility. Data will be synchronized between headquarters and the backup facility over a network. If another storm forces the company out of New Orleans, "we will hardly lose a beat," Chaffee said. "We should be up in Dallas within a couple of hours."

Chaffee's IT staff was testing the data replication capabilities late last month as part of its goal of finishing the work by June 1. But Chaffee said the real "window of worry" is from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 -- the height of hurricane season. He isn't particularly concerned that a storm will put a bull's-eye on New Orleans again. Even so, he said he doesn't plan to take any time off during that period.