December 2004 · Volume 86 · Number 11 

In Times of Disaster: Minimize Local-Government Business Interruptions
by Joseph Jarret
No organization is immune from the effects of an unforeseen natural disaster, be it a wildfire, tornado, or, as we recently saw here in Polk County, Florida, three hurricanes in as many weeks. If not for the presence of comprehensive, proven-reliable disaster recovery and redundancy backup plans, the effects of Hurricane Charley could have been far more devastating for Polk County and its 17 incorporated local governments.
Once it became evident that Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane, was turning inland and consequently toward us, the county took immediate steps to prepare for the worst. The most immediate action was to issue evacuation orders for parts of the county, as well as to have the county chairperson execute an emergency ordinance that established emergency shelters, suspended the purchasing code (permitting employees to buy emergency supplies and equipment without going through the usual bidding process), established curfews, made provisions for the availability and use of temporary housing, and prevented price gouging.
The county's public information office made a concentrated effort to alert citizens about: locations and routes to shelters; the fact that the government was still in business continuously; numbers to call to get emergency assistance and insurance-claims assistance; and directions to food, water, and ice distribution centers.
Further, employees were accounted for and emergency teams alerted, as were local governments who depend on the county for communications and other support. Joint briefings continued throughout the day and night that included local law enforcement personnel, state and federal emergency-preparedness representatives, and key personnel from all incorporated localities. Still, the process of identifying our strengths and weaknesses and addressing both was an ongoing one.
Interaction with State Emergency Management Officials 
It is important that a local government designate a staff person or persons who are required to:
1. Participate in state emergency management planning and coordination activities.
2. Maintain partnerships with state emergency management personnel.
3. Maintain a list of available programs and of the activities in which the locality is qualified to participate, and continually update this list.
4. Develop a plan to select members and supervisors before or during a disaster.
5. Work with programs to ensure that members, volunteers, and supervisors have the appropriate training.
6. Set up a communication network among and between key people.
7. Resolve health insurance and liability coverage issues that would affect capacity to respond.
8. Arrange orientation and training of staff on FEMA and state emergency- management agency processes and service availability.
9. Ensure that staff members understand the role of volunteer agencies involved in disasters and how to coordinate involvement with them.
10. Maintain frequent contact with the emergency management coordinator with reports on the status of the assignments. 
11. Give the media and general public ongoing information on the relief effort being conducted.
It is imperative that the post-recovery process be an integrated one that solicits input from all affected local government departments. The issues raised in this article are just a sampling of concepts that your elected officials may wish to consider in anticipation of future events.
Although each local government and the citizens it serves enjoy unique characteristics, there are certain constants shared by all. Emergency management procedures, for example, generally go through four phases:
Response. This first phase of emergency management is usually a short, specific time period in which first responders, fire and emergency medical services personnel, search-and-rescue teams, and other public safety officials focus on saving lives and protecting public health, safety, and property.
Recovery. The second phase of emergency management begins while response is still ongoing and focuses on providing longer-term human services assistance (food, clothing, shelter, medical needs). Recovery also is the stage in which repairs are made to personal property and essential public property and infrastructure. Recovery can extend for many months after a disaster occurs.
Mitigation. The third phase of emergency management entails measures designed to abate hazardous conditions. Mitigation occurs at all times and requires a strong understanding of local natural and urban environments and a vigilant approach to altering potential hazards. Some examples of mitigation include elevating homes, moving houses from a floodplain, and reinforcing buildings and bridges.
Preparedness. This fourth phase of emergency management, which also takes place continually, is an important part of the county's disaster educational system. Preparedness measures serve to educate communities and incorporated local governments about disasters and include teaching CPR, first aid, swimming, and other life-saving and first-responder skills; developing community disaster drills and exercises; and creating a public safety plan for handling future major disasters or emergency situations.
Considering the unique qualities of each governmental entity, it would not be sensible to offer a one-size-fits-all emergency action plan. Administrators do want to consider, however, ensuring that they are aware of the following matters:
•	Are excess insurance premiums paid, and are sufficient policy limits established? 
•	Have events that could result in an interruption of the entity's operations been systematically identified? 
•	Have interlocal agreements been entered into with surrounding local governments or state agencies, providing for a sharing of the delivery of services like public safety, communications, and fresh water? 
•	Have private businesses or charities upon which the community may rely in a disaster been identified and partnered with? 
•	Has research been done on the feasibility of hiring or recommending that a specialist be retained to clean up the fire- or water-damaged areas quickly and efficiently, thereby restoring operations as quickly as possible? 
•	Do the external events identified include such man-made emergencies as terrorism, a natural-gas pipeline rupture, or an aircraft impact and such natural events as flooding, earthquakes, and tornados? 
•	Have the probabilities and consequences of these events been assessed and quantified? 
•	Are cost-beneficial mitigation measures being taken to reduce the risk of an interruption to the operations of such facilities as water and wastewater plants? 
•	How effective is the locality's preventive maintenance program? 
•	Have risk assessments been conducted of electrical supply systems and fire detection systems? 
•	What are the procedures for notifying the public at large? 
•	Is there a designated media briefing location? 
•	Is there a policy for providing assistance to employees laid off because of the incident? 
•	Have issues regarding the removal and disposal of debris been explored? 
•	Have FEMA representatives been contacted, and has its hotline number been published? Are employees and citizens trained on reimbursement procedures? 
•	Are shelters available to house pets? People have suffered personal injury or death as a result of refusing to evacuate because they couldn't take their pets to shelters. 
•	Are the people who are involved in recovery efforts assured of sufficient rest and sustenance? 
•	Are press releases and public-access television stations being given regular updates and alerts? 
•	Is the word getting out that downed power lines can also mean broken transformers, resulting in longer power restoration times? 
•	Has someone in your organization performed a cost-benefit analysis as to whether your locality can obtain an 800-mhz communications system? 
•	As post-recovery efforts wind down, are you prepared to take a no-nonsense approach to debriefing and program effectiveness? With FEMA Assistance
Local government officials know that FEMA is a key player when disaster strikes, bringing both technical and fiscal assistance. FEMA's administrators strongly suggest that managers have in place employees who can put "a face to a name" among FEMA and state emergency management personnel. These points of contact or liaisons can:
1. Design the scope of projects for mission assignments with FEMA, the entity, the state point of contact, and state emergency management personnel, based on needs identified by the state and FEMA.
2. Develop and secure FEMA approval of a budget of estimated costs for the mission assignment, covering necessary travel, lodging and meals, on-site training (if necessary), tools, and equipment.
3. Ensure that programs considered for mission assignments are only deployed after FEMA's approval of the project and its proposed budget, when appropriate.
4. Provide day-to-day supervision of volunteers.
5. Coordinate activities of members/ volunteers with those of FEMA personnel.
6. Coordinate activities for members/ volunteers with those of community contacts and other agencies.
7. Maintain daily contact with elected officials, state officials, and FEMA.
8. Identify and arrange procurement of necessary buildings, equipment, and safety gear for responses to specific types of disasters.
9. Maintain frequent contact with the state point of contact by reporting on the status of assignments and related issues, if on-site coordination is conducted by someone other than the state point of contact.
Information Technology Needs
Considering how dependent Polk County is on its information technology (IT) systems, it goes without saying that in the aftermath of a disaster, one of the key concerns for our government is to ensure that data loss and governmental business interruptions are kept to a minimum.
For similar reasons, if the facility housing your IT system is damaged, you may want to consider recovering your computer application environments-including, but not limited to, servers, network connectivity, application software and data, and backup capability-at an alternate processing location. If you do this, you will be in a much better position to enhance your access to mission-critical data and systems, with less downtime and better employee productivity.
Clearly, the above list is not intended to be exhaustive. However, by remaining proactive, conducting mock scenarios in anticipation of real-life emergencies, and doing some serious and proper planning, your locality can cut the amount of business interruption time it suffers. PM
Joseph Jarret is chief legal counsel for Polk County, Florida (JosephJarret@polk-county.net).