It wasn't just systems and disks that failed because of failing air conditioning units, alot of companies also experienced water damage and/or lightning impacts.
Saving on systems and backups can have a negative influence. The financial impact of a crash or data loss is bigger than the initial saving that was thought to be achieved.What most people don't realize is that with a system crash the backup is also possibly damaged. A good backup is vital to businesses continuity.
Our advice, if you choose to save money, is to consider the financial risk of downtime and take lost data into account. Especially in the case of recovery because of extreme weather, it's recommended to have a (tested) backup online.