Lessons Learned from Hurricane Dolly (Final Thoughts)

As I think back to the events of Hurricane Dolly a week ago I a couple thoughts and lessons learned have reoccurred over the past couple days.

• Prepare early. My family is new to a hurricane zone and as such we hadn’t started to prepare until the days before the Dolly struck. We needed to stock up on water, canned goods, flashlights, batteries (for flash lights and a radio), diapers and baby items. Power outages are a reality as well as boil orders so understanding your basic sustenance is critical. Additionally, we I boarded my windows at home a couple days before the storm in anticipation of a busy work schedule.
• Prepare often. While we will now continue to maintain a basic stock at home at work we have reviewed and updated our Hurricane Preparedness Plan prior to the hurricane season and then made further updates that days before Dolly struck. Additionally we have reviewed and updated Recovery Plans and during the hurricane we had frequent and timed staff communications for status updates.
• Expect the unexpected. When you have a disaster you never can plan for everything. At my home we had cable and phone service outages for a couple days, sporadic cell phone outages, and rolling blackouts. In addition to that our minivan battery died, which made the subsequent days more difficult because it was one addition task that needed to be addressed for clean-up we needed to replace the battery.
• Have proper insurance. In a hurricane zone you need hazards insurance, windstorm insurance, and flood insurance. Hurricane Dolly provided many lessons, one of which was that flooding can happen well out of the surge area and many of those who were not flooded may have had “close calls”.
• Create distractions. During the storm it is easy for your mind to wander, and especially difficult to keep children from being afraid. Prior to the storm we bought a number of new games and activities that could be used if we lost power and they proved to be helpful throughout the storm. The distractions allowed our children to remain active and held calm their fears.
• Return to normal as quickly as possible. Both at work and at home we made and attempt to return to normal including un-boarding windows, following a normal schedule, and at work getting back to full production. While this is difficult for those who were hit harder it is clear that positive action toward normalcy is valuable following any significant event.
• Remain flexible. The unexpected will occur and plans will not always be feasible when you start to execute them. If you remain flexible you are in a much better position to react when situations change and plans fail.

While these thoughts were inspired by my experiences in Hurricane Dolly I can certainly see the application of most of these items in other personal and business situations.

I encourage my readers to comment on lessons they may have learned in similar circumstances.

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