Condo Media - December 2013 - 24

ASKED & NAME
COLUMN ANSWERED

Disaster Planning
How to Prepare for the Worst

Q
A

QUESTION: I am on the board of
my community association and am
concerned that it does not have a
disaster plan. Should we have such
a plan, and if so, what should it
include?
ANSWER: Yes, you should have a
plan. (You were expecting a different answer?) It doesn't have to be
overly complicated, but it should be
comprehensive. The best way to start:
Ask yourself, if a disaster struck your
community tomorrow, what would you
wish you had done in advance? Here
are the basics:
Develop an evacuation plan.
The first priority in any emergency is
to save lives and prevent injuries. The
evacuation plan should identify and
map all emergency exits, fire doors, fire
escapes, etc., and it should describe
the procedures residents should follow
if an evacuation is required. Your plan
should also:
* Identify any residents with special
needs who would require special
assistance if the buildings are evacuated.
* Designate an on-site location where
residents can meet to obtain further
instructions and to provide essential
information to emergency responders
- most importantly, which residents
are not yet accounted for.
Designate one or more emergency coordinators for the community.
When a disaster strikes, residents
and local officials will want to know,
"Who's in charge?" The property manager is the obvious choice for a profes-

24

CONDO MEDIA * DECEMBER 2013

sionally managed association, but the
manager may not be on site when the
emergency occurs, and may not be able
to get there right away, or at all. So you
should establish a chain of command to
ensure that someone will know exactly
what to do.
Describe in detail the immediate procedures to be followed in an emergency.
Among other details, these instructions
should include:
* The name and contact information
for the emergency coordinator(s) for
the community.
* Contact information for first responders (police, fire, ambulance,
Red Cross).
* Contact information for plumbers,
electricians, elevator contractors,
disaster recovery firms, and any other
vendors whose services you might
need to deal with an emergency.
* Contact information for the association's insurance agent.
* The location (pinpointed on a map)
of all shut-off valves.
* The location of master keys.
You can't assume the maintenance
worker who knows how to turn off the
water or the manager who guards the
keys will be around when an emergency
strikes, so you want to be sure more
than one person has that important
information.
Detail the procedures for communicating with owners both during an
emergency and after.
During the emergency, you should be
prepared to communicate:
* Evacuation instructions (if any)

and other emergency alerts from
community association leaders, and
local and state emergency response
coordinators.
* Weather reports.
* Information on road closings and
general travel advisories.
* Health and safety information:
whether water is safe to drink, when
power will be restored, when owners
can return to the community if they
have been evacuated.
After the emergency, owners will
need information about the damage to
the community and the plans for repairing it, such as contact information
for the association's insurance agent
and a list of vendors who can provide
clean-up, repair, and reconstruction
services for owners.
In addition, a few other general
points about the communications plan
include:
* Designate someone to assume
primary responsibility for posting
emergency information during the
disaster, and identify at least one
back-up person who can take over
this task if necessary.
* Review and update the emergency
information and instructions at least
annually. Ask owners to update their
contact information yearly as well.
* Take advantage of the communications features your Web site offers,
but don't rely on the site exclusively. Plan to use all the communications resources available to you
to convey essential information to
owners during an emergency and
keep them informed and connected
after it is over. CM



Condo Media - December 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - December 2013

Condo Media - December 2013
Contents
From the CED’s Desk
President’s Message
CAI Regional News
CAI News
Asked & Answered
Homeowner’s Corner
CHARTING A COURSE
Vendor Spotlight
Insurance
Pets
Legal Update
Pests
Homeowners
Industry Perspective
Classifi ed Service Directory
Advertisers Index
Condo Media - December 2013 - BB1
Condo Media - December 2013 - BB2
Condo Media - December 2013 - Condo Media - December 2013
Condo Media - December 2013 - Cover2
Condo Media - December 2013 - Contents
Condo Media - December 2013 - From the CED’s Desk
Condo Media - December 2013 - 3
Condo Media - December 2013 - President’s Message
Condo Media - December 2013 - 5
Condo Media - December 2013 - CAI Regional News
Condo Media - December 2013 - 7
Condo Media - December 2013 - 8
Condo Media - December 2013 - P1
Condo Media - December 2013 - P2
Condo Media - December 2013 - 9
Condo Media - December 2013 - 10
Condo Media - December 2013 - 11
Condo Media - December 2013 - 12
Condo Media - December 2013 - 13
Condo Media - December 2013 - CAI News
Condo Media - December 2013 - 15
Condo Media - December 2013 - 16
Condo Media - December 2013 - 17
Condo Media - December 2013 - 18
Condo Media - December 2013 - 19
Condo Media - December 2013 - 20
Condo Media - December 2013 - 21
Condo Media - December 2013 - 22
Condo Media - December 2013 - 23
Condo Media - December 2013 - Asked & Answered
Condo Media - December 2013 - 25
Condo Media - December 2013 - Homeowner’s Corner
Condo Media - December 2013 - 27
Condo Media - December 2013 - CHARTING A COURSE
Condo Media - December 2013 - 29
Condo Media - December 2013 - 30
Condo Media - December 2013 - 31
Condo Media - December 2013 - 32
Condo Media - December 2013 - 33
Condo Media - December 2013 - Vendor Spotlight
Condo Media - December 2013 - 35
Condo Media - December 2013 - Insurance
Condo Media - December 2013 - 37
Condo Media - December 2013 - Pets
Condo Media - December 2013 - 39
Condo Media - December 2013 - Legal Update
Condo Media - December 2013 - 41
Condo Media - December 2013 - Pests
Condo Media - December 2013 - 43
Condo Media - December 2013 - 44
Condo Media - December 2013 - 45
Condo Media - December 2013 - Homeowners
Condo Media - December 2013 - 47
Condo Media - December 2013 - Industry Perspective
Condo Media - December 2013 - 49
Condo Media - December 2013 - Classifi ed Service Directory
Condo Media - December 2013 - Advertisers Index
Condo Media - December 2013 - 52
Condo Media - December 2013 - 53
Condo Media - December 2013 - 54
Condo Media - December 2013 - 55
Condo Media - December 2013 - 56
Condo Media - December 2013 - Cover3
Condo Media - December 2013 - Cover4
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