A great many moons ago, when responsibility for “Disaster Preparedness” landed on my desk, I lobbied for “Business Continuity” instead – how do we keep the business functioning, meet customer demand, protect and pay employees, support our suppliers and contractors, etc.?
Not a simple task and in our extremely complex manufacturing business, more than a bit of a challenge. Which is why I embraced the concept of a good, detailed SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, all the way down to the Department level and in some cases, a separate analysis down to critical functions within a department. A good SWOT Analysis, even for a family, won’t be done in 30 minutes, it’ll take a couple of weeks of thoughtful work, needs periodic review and updating as conditions change. It can be as detailed as one wants, which is probably the best way to proceed, weeding out the unattainable and unnecessary when the analysis is complete, or nearly so.
I went through the same 3 hurricanes in 2004 Bob F (above) did, and other than not having whole-house AC for the 6 days we were “electricity challenged” after Charlie – some neighborhoods were dark for almost 3 weeks – it was a “campout at home” (Francis knocked out power for about 24 hours, Jean for about 18 hours) a small ultra-quiet RV generator (3K watts) kept the fridge and some fans running, powered a small window AC at night for more comfortable sleeping in one bedroom, all for about 2 – 2.5 gallons/day, a Zodi camping propane water heater provided low-flow, but warmish, showers on the back porch, the propane grill handled the cooking, etc. We didn’t lose county water, which was a really big thing, and when one lives in Hurricane Country one maintains alternatives, like an old-timey coffee percolator, kerosene lamps (the older Aladdins are great, the newer ones seem…a bit chintzy, but that’s pretty much the default for everything now). The only damage suffered was a lot of shingle tabs gone, but no roof leaks (houses in Florida, even those built to the older code are considerably different from those built elsewhere) and a couple of trees down in the neighbor’s yard; not bad for 2–3 hours of 110 MPH sustained winds (Charlie was, fortunately, a “fast mover” and didn’t sit in one place long, grinding up everything).
Which places emphasis on the “Opportunities” part of a SWOT Analysis – when A doesn’t work, what’s Plan B, or C, or D? I had 145 feet of 10MM climbing rope, a Swiss seat and a line brake for safety while smearing cold tar patch on the missing shingle tabs, and that system and the cold tar bucket made the rounds through the neighborhood for several days after Charlie (and again after Francis, and Jean….), a couple of floodlights on poles provided light for a couple of nights of “a neighborhood cookout for everything from the freezer” after Charlie up and down the block. We all ate like kings for several days, including the older retired folks up the street who didn’t have a grill. Walkie-talkies got broken out, charged when a generator was running, and everyone shared flashlights and batteries. We had used simple railroad-style kerosene lanterns for ambient light on the patio for years, by the time Jean hit everyone had a couple.
We understood the Threat, had a good idea of our Weaknesses, had Options, and learned our Strengths; as the Marines preach in Basic School “Adapt, Improvise, Overcome” and while Eisenhower said ”a plan is worthless, but planning is critical,” having a plan forms a “Performance Outline” to direct attention and effort to solutions.
Regarding Planning, I’m reminded of the old, crusty senior engineer who is working at his desk when the staff runs in, crying and screaming that scientists have discovered a giant meteor that will strike Earth in 24 hours, knocking the planet out of its orbit and into the sun. Without looking up, the Old Engineer points to his bookshelves and says, “second shelf, blue binder, Section 4.”
