by Rick Stryker
Fortunately the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season didn't meet the
forecasters' predictions. The mild weather pattern was a welcome
relief to those at risk following two devastating hurricane seasons in
2004 and 2005.
Weather and changing weather patterns were big stories
nonetheless in 2006 in other ways. An Associated Press article written
by Randolph E. Schmid and reported on Forbes.com in 2006 went into the
books as the third warmest year on record in the contiguous United States.
The warm weather created dry conditions in parts of the country and spawned
a record number of wildfires, with 9.5 million acres burned by year's
end.
While parts of the U. S. suffered under drought conditions and burned,
other regions (New England, South Central, and Pacific Northwest) were
experiencing record rainfall causing floods, mudslides, extensive property
damage, and loss of life.
Scope
Disasters can be widespread, impacting
many businesses and lives like the damage a hurricane might cause from
high winds and rain. Disasters can also be local and specifically impact
your camp, such as a fire that destroys your dining hall or an automobile
accident injuring many campers and staff.
Assistance
Receiving help in
a disaster depends upon the scope and type of the event. If damage is
widespread involving many communities, like that caused by a flood for
example, local, state, and federal governmental resources will be marshaled
to provide assistance. In addition, organizations like American Red Cross,
some private and religiously-affiliated disaster relief organizations
can also be expected to respond in these circumstances.
The extent of
the assistance and how quickly these resources respond will vary depending
upon where your camp is located—and how severely the emergency
response infrastructure is damaged by a widespread event. Emergency response
officials usually advise that individuals and businesses be prepared
to fend for themselves for at least the first seventy-two hours following
a disaster.
The focus of the initial effort is rescuing people, finding
temporary shelter for them, providing food, water, and medical care as
needed. It is only after these priorities are addressed that governmental
resources turn their attention to local businesses. This can be weeks,
months, or years later.
Insurance company claim adjusters usually are
on the heels of emergency response teams, trying to locate their customers,
provide initial financial assistance as needed, and begin the task of
assessing the damage.
Assistance to small businesses damaged by Hurricane
Katrina for example, who didn't have insurance, or enough insurance,
included Small Business Administration Loans at low interest rates to
repair buildings and replace contents and inventories. Economic Injury
Disaster Loans (EIDLs) were also made available to small businesses unable
to pay bills or meet operating expenses. There was even some disaster
unemployment assistance for the self-employed persons.
Local Disaster
Assistance
Response to a local disaster such as a fire that destroys
your dining hall is a different story. Chances are disaster assistance
will be focused and limited to emergency response by fire departments,
police, emergency medical services, gas and electric companies, building
code enforcement officers, and other local government agencies, such
as your health departments.
You can also expect your insurance broker,
insurance company, neighbors, fellow camp directors, the American Camp
Association, and other camp professionals to be there for you and offer
various types of assistance, but governmental resources (local, state,
or otherwise) will typically not be available.
While you will not be
entirely "on your own" so to speak, it will feel like you
are at times. Camp directors who have experienced a disaster at their
camp talk about feeling overwhelmed. It is easy to imagine the confusion
and upset that overtakes people in a time of crisis. Camp directors who
have successfully navigated the rough waters a disaster can create uniformly
point to planning as one of the pre-event actions they took that helped
make a difference.
Small Businesses Largely Unprepared
Studies on disaster
preparedness from a variety of organizations report similar findings,
most small businesses are not prepared to deal with a disaster and don't
have disaster recovery plans. On the surface this is not surprising,
or alarming.
We are bombarded with facts and figures in the headlines
every day. The lack-of-preparedness report is the kind of information
that "washes over us" and gets filed in the back of our minds
as a project we will get to "one of these days." The real
concern for business owners and managers is behind the headline: the
studies conclude that up to forty percent of small businesses do not
reopen following a disaster in their area.
It takes a few seconds to
absorb this information. It takes a little longer to realize its significance
and longer still to understand the risks and prepare a business continuation
plan.
First Steps—Where to Begin
Why does it make good business
sense to invest time and money in disaster response and recovery planning?
Each of us may have slightly different answers to this question, but the
common thread for many of us may be 1) help people (campers, staff, members
of the public) in a time of crisis; 2) to survive the disaster; and 3)
protect our businesses and continue operating our camps and conference
center programs.
This is easier said than done, because the obstacles
may be formidable. The good news is you probably have elements of a disaster
response and recovery plan already in place (e.g., risk management plans
including fire prevention plans, safety and health plans, emergency action
plans, evacuation plans, etc.), which will make the development of your
disaster response and recovery plan easier.
Next Steps—Establish
a Team
The type and size of your business will influence the next steps.
If you are a private camp owner, you just have to convince yourself and/or
your partners that investing time and money in this project is good for
your camp. If you are a nonprofit or religious organization, you will
have to convince your board of directors.
After securing commitment from
all stakeholders in your organization, establish a project team. Once
again the size of your organization will influence the number of people
on the team. It is a good idea to have at least two people involved if
possible who have a broad perspective on all of the business and operational
issues at camp. Following are some resources that may be helpful as your
team starts developing your plan:
Step-by-Step Guide
A step-by-step approach
can be found in the Emergency Management Guide for Business and Industry
published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA 141/ October
1993). You can download a free copy by visiting www.fema.gov/business/index.shtm.
FEMA also offers other publications and checklists on this site, which
may be helpful to your planning team.
The guide is divided into four
sections:
- Section One—Steps in the Planning Process address
forming a team, conducting a vulnerability analysis, how to develop
a plan, and how to implement the plan.
- Section Two—Emergency
Management Considerations focus on life safety, property protection,
communications, and community outreach.
- Section Three—Hazard
Specific Information discusses common hazards such as fire, hazardous
material spills, floods, hurricanes, etc. and discusses planning considerations.
- Section
Four—Information Sources includes additional reference material
available from FEMA and State Emergency Management offices.
Other Resources
The American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) is another valuable source
of information on disaster planning and preparedness. Visit the Web site
and click on Disaster Services to locate information about children and
disasters. Click on Publications and go to Community Disaster Education
Materials then to General Disaster Preparedness for more business-related
information. Some of the material on the Red Cross site may be available
for a nominal fee.
Another Web site worth exploring is www.disaster-recovery-guide.com.
Besides general information about disaster planning, recovery, and some
potentially useful links, they offer an MS-Word document template called
the BCP Generator. For those interested in a "fill in the blanks," planning
and disaster recovery guide, the document can be downloaded for $199.
Nuts and Bolts
One of the keys to developing a comprehensive plan is
to do a thorough risk or threat analysis. The FEMA Emergency Management
Guide refers to this process as a vulnerability analysis.
The Guide suggests
considering risks unique to your site and facilities, as well as risk
factors in your local community. It recommends a historical review of
the types of events or emergencies occurring in the past (e.g., fire,
hurricane, floods, earthquake, etc.); geographic factors (e.g., proximity
to dams, military bases, railroads, chemical plants, etc.); review of
technological risks (e.g., computer security breach resulting in the
theft of camper parent credit card information, etc.); the risks of human
error (e.g., sexual misconduct, carelessness, or fatigue which results
in injury to campers or staff); and the risks that are created by the
physical nature of your facilities themselves (ropes courses, age of
buildings, condition of electrical systems, types of activities, etc.).
Once your team has identified the risks, assess the impacts on your
organization in "what if" type scenarios. Build your response plans to
manage and reduce the impact of these events, stabilize things, and return
to normal as quickly as possible.
Don't forget to include a review
of your insurance in the disaster planning process. It is important to
know how and when your insurance, especially your camp's direct
damage, and loss of income and extra expense insurance responds in a
crisis. Don't let your camp become a statistic! Take the time to
make plans to respond to and survive a disaster. Be prepared!
Originally published in the 2007 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
