As we reach the start of hurricane season, you should be putting the finishing touches on your current emergency preparedness plan.  With the bleak outlook for hurricanes in 2006, many property managers and vendors are preparing specifically for storms.  Yet the key to an emergency preparedness plan is to realize that anything can happen in or to your property, whether it is storm related, such as severe flooding, or fire, vandalism, and workplace violence. Trying to plan for only one or two possible emergencies can be futile.  Instead, develop a general emergency preparedness plan that can work for any emergency.  

With an unlimited number of possible disasters, how can you best prepare an emergency preparedness plan with a wide-enough scope to cover any disaster?  Prepare a plan with these key elements: a building risk evaluation, defined disaster recovery concerns, and a clear plan of communication. 

Luckily, many emergencies utilize the same recovery components.  Property managers and relevant vendors will face many of the same issues dealing with flooding, severe storms, hurricanes and fires.   Collect information before a disaster hits and practice using that information to make sure it is accurate and relevant.  Do not get too caught up in a specific type of emergency.  

The first part of the emergency preparedness plan is to complete risk evaluation on your property.  The information collected in this process is necessary for dealing with any type of disaster.  Examples of information you should determine during the risk evaluation includes:

• Building location, relevant to points of access, other buildings, geographical features, etc.  By knowing how your building relates to what is around it, you will have a better understanding of options if a disaster were to occur.
• Building type and design.  Look at your building from the standpoint of being in the middle of a disaster.  Example of questions you should ask include: What are all the options for people to exit the building? Where can we shelter in place if necessary? What parts of the building will need attention first? What special issues does my building have that my vendors and tenants need to be aware of?
• Business activity:  Be sure that you are aware of all type of business activity that occurs at the property.  Establish open lines of communication with tenants so that you are updated if there are changes.
• Alternative uses:  Identify areas where “outside” people can enter the building and use it to operate, if necessary.  Outside people might include emergency responders, neighboring tenants, tenant families, etc.  If your building lends itself to being a good candidate for outside people, let neighboring buildings and emergency personnel know.

The second part of the emergency preparedness plan is to identify the major concerns that would be most prominent in the event of a disaster.   Ensure that all parties know t hese concerns so they can concentrate on them if a disaster were to hit.  The first concern should be people, such as tenants, guests, building management and personnel.  People must be accounted for and safe.  The second concern is property, which may include parking lots, garages and neighboring buildings.  The third concern is business, meaning daily operations for business management and tenants.  Having all parties on the same page for immediate concerns, recovery efforts will be more coordinated and run much smoother.

The third step of the plan is to make sure that there is a system of communication in place between property management, employees, tenants and vendors.  This should be established long before a disaster hits.  Often times, tenants are unsure of their responsibilities and roles during a disaster.  Likewise, property managers are unsure of the responsibilities and roles of a vendor.   During, or after, a disaster is no time to be figuring this information out.  Work with tenants and vendors ahead of time to be sure that everyone has a clear understanding of their part in the disaster recovery. 

Once you feel confident in your general plan, you can then work on specifics for some of the more likely emergencies.  Unfortunately, Houston seems ripe for a large natural disaster of some sort, so it is wise to take specific steps to prepare for a large storm and flooding.  Some immediate things you can do are to pre-plan with vendors skilled in restoration and emergency services.  Some of these vendors include: window/glass companies; security companies, locksmiths, tree removal services, car towing services, and fire and water restoration companies.  If disaster is imminent, ascertain alternative phone numbers and contact points.

Finally, never become complacent in your emergency preparedness plan.   Just because you have something in writing does not mean that is current, or that all relevant people comprehend it or are familiar with it.  Make a consistent effort to update the plan and ensure that everyone still understands it.  The key to ensuring your plan is effective is communication.

Completing a building risk evaluation, determining primary disaster recovery concerns, and actively communicating the plan to all relevant parties will greatly aide in disaster recovery.  Through the development of a general emergency preparedness plan, property managers will be prepared to deal with any type of emergency.

*This article was contributed by Southpro Restoration