How to prepare for emergencies

Nation's Business, April, 1990

How To Prepare For Emergencies

Dowty Polymers Inc., of North Charleston, S.C., was one of the many businesses that learned an important lesson from Hurricane Hugo: To be effective, plans for coping with emergencies should anticipate the worst.

The company's president, Ron Fowler, said that the extent and the severity of that storm last summer rendered ineffective his disaster plan. For example, he said, emergency planning called for using another company's computers if his went down, "but there was no power within 100 miles of here after the hurricane."

Storm warnings enabled the 14-employee company to ship as much inventory as possible, but 20 percent of what by rainwater that poured in after roof seams opened and a wall caved in. As heavy rains continued after the storm, employees were dispatched to neighboring states to obtain tarpaulins, plastic, plywood, generators, and fuel. But, Fowler said, "we found we weren't too skilled at things like roof repair."

In developing a new emergency plan, Fowler said, he would stockpile materials for damage control, then identify workers who could form teams to make at least temporary repairs of machinery and structures as well as electrical, computer, and telephone systems.

But even a disaster-plan that doesn't work out as intended can be an important resourse when disaster strikes.

"Your thinking is not very organized after a major disruption, and a plan helps you address the situation in an organized way," says Paul Campbell, senior vice president of Alumax of South Carolina, an aluminum plant in Goose Creek. "It helps define your response, even if the situation simply involves a thunderstorm knocking out your computer."

After Hugo lashed the Charleston area with gusts to 150 mph, Alumax encountered far more than an inoperative computer; it lacked sufficient electricity for production for six days.

While the storm's rampage was limited to a relatively small area of the country, emergency-planning experts say that most businesses are susceptible to disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, blizzards, fires, and power outages.

Robert S. Wilkerson, president of the Corporate Response Group Inc., a Washington, D.C., consulting firm specializing in crisis management for companies, said an emergency plan should cover:

* Ways to protect inventory and minimize further damage or loss after the disaster;

* Procedures for communicating immediate recovery steps to workers and others who need to know;

* Protection and restoration of critical records;

* How to meet financial needs through insurance, letters of credit, and other sources;

* Legal obligations to continue in business;

* What help is available from state, local, and federal programs;

* Potential personal and personnel ramifications;

* Potential market requirements and opportunities that might result from a disaster.