Pacific Northwest Winter Storms Grow and Present Flooding Problems

As the winter weather worsens in the Pacific Northwest, I am continually reminded of the need for PREPAREDNESS.

A series of heavy snowfall since mid-December has left Spokane buried. We broke the 24-hour, 48-hour, 72-hour, 7-day, and 1 month records for most snowfall in a given period just to give you an idea if you reside outside of this area (Mayor Mary Verner spoke to this issue and others in a press conference on 1/7/09). We experienced roof collapses all over the city – 28 buildings so far – and then came the bad news – we would be getting 6-10 more inches of snow followed by rain. Why was that such bad news, you may ask? The added weight that the rain would add to the existing snow on structures all over the area would be a major concern for buildings and structures with flat or low-pitched roofs – we would be approaching 30lbs per square ft, dangerously high. They closed all Spokane School District #81 schools, along with numerous others 4 days already this week because of safety concerns regarding the structural soundness of the buildings. On top of those issues, flooding will start to become a real threat as the rain melts the snow buildup causing transportation, drainage, and safety issues all over the state.

That is a lot of information to take in all at once so I will get back to my main point in writing this post – you must be prepared at all times, for best to worse case scenarios! We were smack in the middle of the biggest snowfall this city has ever experienced, a state of emergency on its own, and then came the next event (more snow and rain leading to heavier snow), and the next (expected flooding all over Washington state)….

As the City of Spokane tried to raise awareness of these events through Press Releases and media, they also spoke to the theme of preparedness. They wanted people/ businesses to be aware of the possible dangers and who they could turn to/ where they could go for assistance should they need it.  

Take the time to plan … plan for the next event!  Figure out NOW what you need to do before you find yourself scrambling to figure out what your next move will be, should you experience a business disruption as the result of that event – whatever it might be; this article speaks to that point. The rest of this winter should be interesting!

Another Practice Round! Another Near Miss in California – So What Are you Thinking?

If you’ve read the newspaper or listened to the news, the reports from the recent California earthquake indicate little or no damage or disruption of life in general. As a contingency planner I know what I’m thinking – complacency is still alive and well. What are you thinking?

Most of my clients and prospects live in earthquake zones. I have discussed the California event with a few and there is some concern, but not as much as someone in my profession would hope – and NO I’m not looking at this from revenue stream perspective. The thought process is amazing when you consider the likelihood of the “big” one or even a “bigger” one and the damage and disruption that would occur. For those of you NOT in an earthquake zone, what other hazards are you faced with that could cause a major disruption to your business activities? Have you taken a look at the Hazards List published by your local department of emergency management? Here is an example of my local Hazard List in Spokane County. Maybe nothing has happened so far, but everyone should have a plan to stay in business – regardless of what your business is!

I would encourage all of you to heighten your awareness of your local hazards – natural, technological and human-caused. Take the time to conduct a Risk Analysis! It will be well worth it if you carry it forward and create a Business Continuity Plan and put the “appropriate” measures in place to respond to an event (regardless of what it is), resume your critical business functions, and recover your business over time.

If you have a plan you should take this opportunity to revisit your plan from a risk perspective – all risks! Make sure you have the resources you would need at-time-of-event set aside to accomplish the above. If not, it’s time to start thinking about Crisis Management, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery. How will you deal with the event? What business functions really need to come back on line? What resources would you need to set aside – technological and work area related?

Oh yeah, one last tidbit! Make sure whatever you do from a physical resource allocation perspective – that the solution you develop for data backup, the location of critical IT infrastructure, and the alternate workspace for your employees involved in the resumption of your critical business functions would not be impacted by the same event – i.e. an earthquake. Take a look at this blog post “Where NOT to keep your severs according to Mother Nature.”

My Part in the Emergency Operations Center – Valley View Wildfire

The Real Thing – This is Why We Practice!

Last Thursday, July 10th, I had the opportunity to sit in the Spokane City/County Emergency Operations Center and observe the professionals working the Valley View Wildfire (link to video footage). There were a lot of positives that came together during the event but some lessons learned as well. When you consider that most of those folks deal with emergency responses for a living, you would think that most of the issues that surfaced should have been addressed in the past, either as the result of past emergencies or through the regular training exercises these folks conduct. From my observation, though, what it came down to was the proverbial left and right hand not knowing what the other hand was doing – not a lot of it mind you, but enough to raise one’s eyebrows.

The big question for me as I look to the private sector is, if the real professionals have challenges during an emergency, what would it look like from an individual’s company’s perspective following a major business disruption? Are you prepared? Would communications flow freely? Could you respond to a business disruption? Could you resume your business? Recover your business over time? Unless you test your plan (assuming that you have one), you will never know! My theory is, better to find out during an exercise vs. during an emergency. If you are not going to make the effort to exercise your plan – good luck following the disruption we all hope never occurs.