Ransomware, Malware, and Cyberattacks. Some days that’s all we hear and why not? Cyber sells! In fact, on a daily basis there’s so much cyber news, podcasts that exclusively cover cyber security issues have sprung up like mushrooms. But what about natural disasters?
Pound for pound, at least for now, there’s nothing that creates more damage and more mayhem to more people than a regional natural disaster such as Hurricane Ida. As reported by The Weather Channel: one million homes and businesses without power, 441,000 people without water service, 670 people trapped by floodwaters, 2,000 miles of transmission lines down, and 25,000 people working to restore power. The numbers are staggering.
When a regional natural disaster strikes, there’s a tremendous amount of disruption spread across a wide range of people and businesses. As Hurricane Ida passed through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, chaos and havoc followed.
The governor of Louisiana is telling residents, “Do not return here.”
If you stop reading this blog right now, remember two things: communications and power. If you can’t solve these two issues at time or crisis, your business is dead.
If you stop reading this blog right now, remember two things: communications and power. If you can’t solve these two issues at time of crisis, your business is dead.
One Phone is Not Enough
After Hurricane Katrina destroyed the entire communications infrastructure across the Gulf Coast in 2005, major investments were made to improve telecommunications; however, the changes made in the last 16 years haven’t been enough.
According to The Washington Post, AT&T suffered a large scale outage in Louisiana, but was able to restore 60% of its network by early Monday “rising to 72% later in the day.” Verizon reported “limited problems,” and T-Mobile “reported its network was about 70% operational across Louisiana and Alabama.”
More concerning is the impact to the Orleans Parish Communication District 911 call center which crashed. Again, referencing The Washington Post, on Monday, the center was offline for 13 hours. The Orleans Parish backup plan? Facebook!
While Facebook isn’t always the best alternative, at least the Orleans Parris had a plan B. Unfortunately, for those without phone services or power, they probably don’t have internet access either which means the social media option isn’t the magic bullet.
Of course, public contingency planning requires a common denominator point of view. On the flip side, businesses have the luxury of dictating terms. For example, leaders and the most essential of employees should consider satellite phones or perhaps an extra mobile phone from a different carrier. Having an AT&T phone AND a Verizon phone truly limits the risk of being down. I have both, and my two-phone solution with wireless hotspots has come into play more than once.
Leaders and the most essential of employees should consider satellite phones or perhaps an extra mobile phone from a different carrier.
GET A GETS CARD
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security sent all U.S. Infragard members a 30-day GETS card providing temporary access to the DHS’s Government Emergency Telecommunication System for land based and wireless phone systems. If you’re unaware, GETS is one of the best government non-secret secrets, and provides prioritized telecommunications access to card holders even when it seems telecommunications networks are down.
If you work in government, support the government, or are involved in key infrastructure sectors such as finance or utilities, you should have a GETS card too. It’s free and takes roughly 45 days to apply.
I have a GETS card, and I test it quarterly.
Power is Everything
When evaluating natural disaster recovery success stories, those who do the best job are those with power. In a regional outage, one of the first elements to fail is power. We saw it in February when a crushing winter storm shut down Texas, and we’ve seen it throughout the summer with the California wildfires.
As we are once again seeing in Louisiana, without power, communications go down, food is spoiling, water is unpotable and hospitals fail. As alternatives, people are quick to point to an uninterruptable power source (UPS) composed of batteries and fueled generators or solar powered battery systems. However, unless these systems are regularly tested, there’s no certainty they will work at time of a disaster. And even when they are regularly tested, there’s always a possibility of failure. I’ve seen more than my share of UPS failures.
Nevertheless, power, quickly followed by communications, are the two ”must have” items in a crisis. Yet, even if these systems are unavailable all is not lost; however, you must consider the alternatives before the natural disaster and not at time of crisis when the sense of urgency is so great action is often more emotional than logical.
Power, quickly followed by communications, are the two ”must have” items in a crisis.
Seize This Moment
I’m guessing everyone reading this blog is safe and life is operating normally. Don’t miss this opportunity to come up with YOUR plan.
From a business point of view, download my whitepaper, Crisis and Incidents, Solving to Normal. In this paper, there’s a number of tips and action items to help any business navigate through a crisis, and equally important, minimize the impact of your business crisis on your customers.
And, most importantly, take this opportunity to create your personal business continuity plan. Tonight, at dinner, raise a series of “what if” questions with your significant other or your family.
Take this opportunity to create your personal business continuity plan.
What will you do if there is a major regional natural disaster in your community? What if it happens Monday at 10am? Friday at 4pm? What if power and gas go offline? What if AT&T or Verizon is not working?
Do you have a meeting spot? Do you know how you will charge your phones? Your computers? Cook your food? Find clean water? How do you power your home router?
Spend the dinner talking about how you will handle a situation we hope never happens.
The Luxury of Advanced Warning is Rare
As a bad as a hurricane is, there’s the luxury of advanced notice. People have time to prepare and evacuate. Unfortunately, most natural disasters aren’t as forgiving. Earthquakes, fires, ice storms, floods and tornados are usually sudden and quite impactful. But they don’t have to be. With some foresight, a little planning, and some investment, you can have the edge on any crisis. And, at the end of the day, your customers will thank you and your family will be safe.
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