Disaster Planning Remains Critical as Terror Threat Still Looms Large
FIVE YEARS HAVE NOW PASSED SINCE THE ATTACK on Sept. 11 with no further incidents on US soil. Recently, plans to conduct major assaults on our cities have been foiled by authorities. While we have been fortunate so far, there seems to exist a pervasive belief that something as terrible as Sept. 11 won't happen again and that our stepped-up security measures will prevent and protect us from future attacks.
Our commercial buildings are now ringed with barriers and bollards, Cameras, turnstiles, x-ray machines and guards fill lobbies. Our buildings appear more secure than ever, but are they? Our people appear more aware, educated and prepared than over about terrorism, but are we? Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent increasing our preparedness and response capability, yet how much have we really accomplished?
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on increasing Our response capability yet how much have we real1y accomplished?
After Sept. 11, we all felt significant efforts had been made to guard ourselves against attack that might strike an entire city. We felt confident that we could respond to any major-scale event quickly and effectively. Then came Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We couldn't feed citizens or evacuate people en masse. Our nation was clearly still not prepared to handle a large catastrophe a full four years after Sept. 11—and we saw these storms coming.
Are we as truly prepared as we tend to believe we are? As frightening as ft may sound, the clouds are building in the distance. Now we need to worry as much about homegrown terror cells as we do about Al Qaeda. It is naive to believe that suicide bombings or improvised explosive devices can only happen in Iraq, Israel or Afghanistan. Terrorism is only going to get worse in all free countries.
However, there is hope, and it lies in proper, well thought-out preparedness programs. In the event of an attack or catastrophe, prepare for and expect the loss of mass transit and forget personal vehicles as a viable option. Plan for a long walk out of the city. Have a personal survival/evacuation kit with essentials like clothing, maps, a flashlight and cash. Don't depend on ATMs for quick funds. Also anticipate the possible loss of inner-city infrastructure after a large event. Electricity, water, communications, even severed gas mains can magnify the effect and aftermath of an assault. Firefighters may not have early access to water for quelling tires. Plan to be self-sufficient, as fire/police/rescue personnel may be too overwhelmed to come to you.
Establish an effective, realistic building evacuation plan. Educate the population and practice it at least annually. Confirm the existence of a building resource pre-plan for fire department emergency operations. Separate and distinct from a life-safety plan, this is vital in providing first responders with all the data pertaining to the building. Continually train and retrain the building staff members who will be playing a crucial role in reacting to the immediate aftermath of an attack, prior to fire and police department arrival, in emergency procedures and designated duties/responsibilities.
Plan on your building and your business being down for at least several days. Establish your own communication network among co-workers, friends and family, even involving designated meeting areas in suburban settings. Don't bank on computers, telephones and PDAs being operational. Practice and tweak your business continuity plan. Consider annual tabletop scenarios.
Even if your building is not a target, it may be affected by an event occurring nearby. Talk to neighboring building owners and managers or through local BOMA chapters as to who will be doing what and who might be able to help one another in dealing with an attack. Form a "disaster response alliance" with your competitors, because if the city collectively fails to quickly react and recover, everyone loses.
Having personally been involved in a voluntary response capacity at the WTC site in 2001 and in New Orleans last year, I have been able to see what works and what doesn't. These two tragedies gave us a sense of how these events play out and why preparation cannot be emphasized enough. As former World Trade Center director Alan Reiss, who survived both the 1993 and 2001 attacks, recently stated, "So far we have been lucky, but they only have to be lucky once."
The views expressed this article are those of the author and not Real Estate Media or its publications.
Curtis S. D. Massey is president of Massey Enterprises Inc., a Virginia Beach, VA-based disaster planning consulting firm. He may be contacted at cmassey@disasteplanning.com.