Interesting article ( link here and here)

SOX clearly states a harsh set of fines and other punishments for failure to comply with the law; however, it doesn’t offer any leeway when it comes to being unable to meet your requirements due to a disaster or other data-loss event. You must be able to file your reports and have the data to back them up, no matter what else may be going on in the organization or its data center. While I’m fairly sure massive disasters like the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region would mitigate some of the punishments due to SOX violation, there is no guarantee that this would be allowed. The bottom line is that even in the case of large-scale disasters, your company could be held liable if you cannot meet the requirements of the regulations.