The 2024 hurricane season has begun with Hurricane Beryl, which has already caused significant damage and fatalities in Texas, Grenada, Venezuela, and nearby areas. Beryl set records as the earliest category 4 and 5 hurricane, with unprecedented sustained winds and rapid intensification. The storm underscores the broader impacts of a warming atmosphere and oceans on hurricane strength, duration, and damage, highlighting the need for greater awareness and action on climate issues.
Keating Automotive Group, which operates 30 dealerships across Texas, has been hit hard by two major disruptions in recent weeks. First, the June 19 cyberattacks on CDK Global’s dealership management system (DMS) stopped operations for nearly two weeks. As employees were working to restore data to the system, Hurricane Beryl struck on July 8, causing significant damage and power outages.
Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm, unexpectedly turned north toward Houston, affecting 11 of Keating Automotive’s dealerships in the area. “We got everything ready for the worst in Port Lavaca,” said owner Ben Keating. “Now, the biggest issue we have is significant damage at dealerships in Houston.” As of mid-afternoon on July 10, all Houston area dealerships were still without power.
While some dealerships with generators managed to open, but Keating Nissan, Keating Honda, and Tomball Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram remain closed until power is restored, which is expected by July 14.“It’s different from the CDK outage, where we could still work,” Keating explained. “Without power, we’re dead in the water.”
The cyberattacks on CDK Global have already created significant challenges. Although Keating Automotive is now operational on CDK’s suite of products, including its customer relationship management system, full functionality has yet to be restored. “We’re not connected to all the different vendors. We’re not connected to the manufacturers,” Keating said. “We don’t have our CRM up in full force yet.”
Before Hurricane Beryl, some dealerships had managed to input almost all information back into the DMS. However, the storm has set back this progress, further delaying operations. Keating hopes to have financial statements submitted to manufacturers by the end of the week, noting that automakers have provided extensions due to the cyberattacks. However, the restoration process is proving difficult with the additional challenges of building damage, fallen trees, and toppled light poles.
