Experiences Gained: Address Communications Challenges During Disaster Planning
At no time in your community will communications be as critical — or as problematic — as during a disaster. Making improvements and plans during disaster planning that address the communications challenges your community is likely to face in a natural disaster will save you time and headaches when a disaster does strike. Furthermore, it may also save lives.
Start by looking inward, at internal agencies and departments. Most localities struggle with staff communications during a disaster. In areas where disasters are rare, few or no staff members will have real-world natural disaster experience. Even localities that experience disasters every few years can quickly lose institutional knowledge due to staff turnover and administration changes.
In Orange County, Texas, for example, officials were experienced with hurricanes coming from the south, but were faced with uncharted territory when unprecedented flooding in March 2016 caused flooding from the north. Excessive rain caused the Sabine River north of Orange County to reach record-high levels and the rain compromised the integrity of the Toledo Bend Dam, forcing dam operators to release water and flood the county. At its peak, the amount of water flowing over the dam per minute was equivalent to the water flow of Niagara Falls.
The county had previous experience with flooding after Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Their existing disaster plans, however, only accounted for flooding from the Gulf. Although they had two weeks to prepare, county officials had to rapidly develop a plan for a disaster scenario with water coming from the opposite direction, with no historical data or existing flood models. Once flood waters hit, half of the county was flooded, while the other half was unaffected, causing confusion among agencies and staff.
“We lost time trying to train people and get them in the right place,” says Orange County Commissioner Barry Burton. “You have to bring in people from different departments to staff the emergency operations center, and you can have miscommunications,” he says. “Make sure everyone understands what their role is going to be.
It’s a good idea to develop a laminated document that lists contact information for all external resources. Provide copies to critical internal personnel, like the mayor, police chief, and fire chief for their home, office, and vehicle.
Use social media like Facebook, Twitter, and other social tools to send out short, immediate messages. Consider such alternative forms of communication as amateur radios and community bulletin boards for communicating when traditional lines of communication are down. And have community leaders use multiple, different cellphone carriers to improve your chances of mobile communications during a disaster. Check out IBTS’s tips for using social media during disasters, and for engaging local ham radio associations.
Communities may also do little planning for how to communicate and coordinate with volunteers. Without a plan for communicating with volunteers, you will lose a potentially valuable resource for your community—at best. At worst, untrained, spontaneous volunteers can hinder rescue efforts and put themselves or others in danger. You can plan for the most important components of volunteer communications well before a disaster occurs; for example, identifying potential locations for a volunteer reception center (see copy below, Avoid Chaos with Effective Volunteer Management).
Following the disaster, you will need to communicate with the public about community recovery and disaster-funding opportunities. Be prepared for residents who are distraught; their homes may have been damaged or lost, some may have lost loved ones.
Organize town hall meetings with internal and external stakeholders once it is safe to do so. Communications should be empathetic but also clear and never misleading.
Make sure there is alignment between FEMA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and your locality on program eligibility and requirements before communicating any disaster assistance funding information to the public.
This article appeared as part of “Strategic Disaster Planning: Tips to Give Your Community a Head Start,” the cover article in the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA’s) April 2017 edition of Public Management (PM) magazine. It was written by Karen Johnson, IBTS marketing manager, and Avery Share, IBTS research analyst.