Disaster Management Over the past several months we have heard stories about severe hurricanes, torrential floods, devastating tornadoes and other natural disasters. Luckily, living in New England it’s not very often we deal with these types of problems. We basically deal with minor disasters such as high winds and flooding causing minimal damage. If a major disaster were to occur, would your Association be ready? Would you be ready to protect life and property? Good management skills are not enough when emergency evacuation plans and personnel need to be activated. Emergency Plans need to be drafted and approved by the Associations and distributed to the members of the community and local authorities. Some of the most common disasters we are exposed to are: fire, flood, loss of power, occasional threats of a hurricane, elevator failure, extreme heat or cold, extreme ice or snow, HVAC failure or boiler explosion, structural failure and possible exposure to toxic chemicals. Although these disasters vary in magnitude, all of them would require some type of disaster plan to prevent additional damage to life and property. If a natural disaster occurred, one of the biggest problems to deal with would be the lack of contractors. Most vendors would be working for other Management Companies Associations. It is important to establish a good working relationship with your vendors. Review with them in advance what is expected of them if a disaster were to occur. Loyalty is most important when dealing with good contractors. Telephone lines may not be operational. Emergency lines of communication need to be established. Communications can be established with two way radios, CB radios, cell phones and ham radios as good alternatives. If a building receives substantial damage, alternative housing may be needed in order to relocate residents. Check into your local Civil Defense Headquarters, School Departments, Churches and the Red Cross. If power is lost to the property it will hinder the progress of the rescue, repairs, effect sanitary conditions and slow communications. A possible solution would be to install an emergency generator that would supply electrical power to essential systems of the property. Potable water may be in short supply or contaminated. Develop a source to supply emergency water to the property such as the National Guard, Civil Defense, supermarkets or neighboring buildings. Establish a central command post on the property. Instruct all residents where this area will be. The command post can be used for central communications, first aid station, and an area used to transport injured residents to local hospitals. Your property insurance also needs to be reviewed. In most cases insurance carriers exclude landscaping damage. You also need to review your deductible for this type of damage. Listed above is only a small part of a disaster management plan. There may be specific needs that your property needs to include in your plan. The best policy is to be prepared in advance. Schedule a monthly board meeting to construct or review your plan. Additional information can be obtained from CAI Gap Report # 14, Disaster Management for Community Associations.   40 Mechanic Street Suite 301 Foxboro, MA 02035 Phone 508-543-2252    Fax 508-543-2253 E-Mail advanced@condomgt.com Back to Home Page