Multi Housing News August 2012 : Page 37
DISASTER PLAN even establish mutual aid agreements with competing properties to house their tenants after a disaster. “You want to identify all the vacancies you have in the area at a time like that. Af-ter a disaster, it’s not a competitive game anymore. You just want to get people sheltered,” says Henigsman. At the Houston Apartment Association, Vice President for Public Affairs Andy Teas remarks that having redundancy and backup of data is critical to access rent rolls and contact information in the event of extended power outages and damage. Teas points out that the active hurricane and tornado seasons of the past decade where necessary. Gutters should then be cleared of debris; window screens should be secured; and the property should be checked to ensure that water accumula-tion fl ows away from the buildings. Some-times it’s not catastrophic fl ooding but pooling from just a few inches of water that can commonly cause damage. “You can’t stop a storm from coming, but you can do some things to minimize the potential damage should it come. You should prepare well in advance of the sea-son,” adds McCurdy. Those susceptible to blizzards and ice storms should also start preparing their properties in fall against freezing pipes, ice happen again, but then it does and you’re not prepared,” adds McCurdy. PEOPLE FIRST, PROPERTY SECOND All disaster plans should start with en-suring the safety of the residents and the property staff, notes Henigsman. In the case of voluntary or mandatory evacua-tions, apartment communities have little responsibility or recourse in getting resi-dents to leave, but they do have a respon-sibility to their staff. No matter what region of the coun-try they are in, all property management offi ces should have basic emergency supplies. McCurdy suggests including fl ashlights, batteries, canned food, water and a basic fi rst aid kit. Beyond that, he says, all staff should keep sturdy boots in the offi ce as high heels and dress loafers won’t cut it after a storm. “In many cases, more people are injured after storms than during them. And foot injuries are very common when you have debris around,” explains McCurdy. While plans should be written and made available to all levels of staff, managers should also keep copies of those plans at their homes since they may not be at work when a disaster strikes. Henigsman adds that disaster and emergency plans should also be comprehensive and allow for mul-tiple staff to play multiple roles. A high turn-over rate in the industry—and the fact that disasters can strike when managers are out of town—means that fl exibility is required. “You want your plan to work no matter who is there,” adds Henigsman. “The per-son you think will implement it may not be there when something happens.” MHN To comment on this story, e-mail Diana Mosher at dmosher@multi-housingnews.com “ EVERY TIME THERE IS A DISASTER, YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW. ALWAYS REVISE THE PLAN. ” have prompted more apartment commu-nities to better prepare for such events. One of the most important elements of disaster preparedness is that when plans are tested in the dime of a real event, they should be analyzed and altered to com-pensate for holes and weaknesses. “Every time there is a disaster you al-ways learn something new, so try to revise your plans to better handle things during the next one,” explains Teas. TAKE PREVENTATIVE MEASURES When it comes to advance planning during active hurricane and tornado sea-sons, McCurdy says that a little preven-tative maintenance can go a long way in minimizing damage. In the spring he recommends assessing all the trees on the property and trimming branches away from roofs and buildings dams, snow build-ups and icy sidewalks. Other disasters cannot often be foreseen, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has many great resources at Ready.gov. You can fi nd articles and documents on building and implementing an emergency plan and how to prepare for certain types of disasters. The most important part of disaster and emergency preparedness is that it be made a continuous process. While multi-family housing owners and operators of-ten review and strengthen their disaster plans after big destructive weather events, this often slips down their list of priorities within a couple of years. Before long, says McCurdy, they’re put on the back burner. “People get things together right after a storm, but then a couple of years go by and they get complacent. You lull yourself to sleep thinking nothing bad is going to www.multi-housingnews.com | August 2012 37
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