Disaster Preparation (#101)
In Post #93 I talked about preparing for winter storms. Hopefully the ideas in that blog post helped some of the people in Texas survive their winter storm a little easier. Over the next few weeks, a series of posts will introduce three key components about how your organization can do a better job surviving a disaster. This series will talk about preparation, reaction, and recovery. Hopefully the articles will help some of you survive a future disaster a little easier. First, I’ll discuss preparation.
In the fall of 2016, Hurricane Matthew was barreling through the Caribbean and toward the eastern seaboard of the United States. Hurricane Matthew was to be the first Category 5 storm off the Atlantic coast in nearly a decade. By the time it dissipated in mid-October, it held the record for holding Category 4 status for the longest of any October storm. In the end, Hurricane Matthew claimed more than 600 lives while causing more than $16 billion in property damage.
As US landfall became imminent, people from Florida through North Carolina began to work through their usual hurricane preparedness drill: boarding up windows, fueling generators, stockpiling water and non-perishable food items, and reviewing evacuation procedures. Along with ordinary citizens and small businesses, government officials and large companies also took very rare preparations in the days before Hurricane Matthew would make landfall. Power companies began staging crews with extra trucks and personnel to anticipate large swaths of power outages. Governors declared states of emergency and ordered evacuations of coastal areas. Eastbound highways and interstates were reversed to ease the flow of traffic fleeing the storm. The Orlando, Florida based Walt Disney World Resort completely shut down for the fourth time in its history. College football games and NASCAR races were postponed.
Hurricanes are perfect disasters to illustrate the importance of preparation, even if you don’t experience hurricanes in your region. Hurricane season in the southeastern US is always a time of unsure outcomes. How do people set themselves up for success? They prepare!
As you begin to prepare for whatever type of disaster is common in your area, you can follow the roadmap laid out by hurricane preparers with these three logical steps:
STEP ONE – Know what the signs are. You could have the best plan to respond to a disaster but if you don’t know when to hit “GO” on that plan, you’re behind. Being able to anticipate an incoming disaster will only help. So, educated yourself. Know what the conditions are for a certain disaster or events.
STEP TWO – Don’t wait to get supplies. Every time a huge storm begins, the news is full of images of people rushing to hardware stores for generators and to grocery stores for water. The smart and most prepared people already have these items on hand. If your business needs power generation to remain operational, why would you wait to buy a generator. Are you set up to go virtual in the event of a catastrophic storm or heavy snow? While you may hesitate to make expenditures that you might not “need” right away (or even ever), having the peace of mind and ability to continue operating during and immediately following a disaster is vitally important.
STEP THREE – Be decisive and know when to activate your plan. It’s never easy to decide when to put your plan into action, particularly if it will cost you money in terms of sales or lost work hours. However, you can save time and money during the reaction and recovery phases if your time your preparation right. Despite being the most expensive natural disaster in 2016, countless lives were saved thanks to the willingness of those in charge to activate preparedness plans.
It can be difficult and even a little scary to think about your next disaster. There will be one. You can’t and won’t stop a disaster from coming. What you can do is make sure you prepare yourself and your organization for what is about to happen and do as much as you can to minimize your exposure before the event begins. Go on the offense and prepare yourself and your team for the storms ahead.