By Jennifer Goetz
From the October 2024 Issue
Hurricanes Helene and Milton are two recent examples of how devastating natural disasters are: entire communities flooded; millions without power; damage is everywhere; and the list goes on. Many facility executives recognize that, with weather patterns changing, one of these catastrophic storms will end up on their doorsteps—whether it be a hurricane, tsunami, tornado, or wildfire.
Facility executives and managers need to revisit and update disaster plans on a yearly basis to ensure that, if the inevitable occurs, they’re as prepared as possible. “The first step is to understand the possible risks your facility could face—including evolving risks caused by climate change,” says Ryan Colker, Vice President of Innovation for the International Code Council. “This includes knowing how your facility was initially constructed and any subsequent renovations (including the codes and standards it was designed to). If there is a disconnect between the potential risk and the current anticipated performance, it’s probably time to develop a plan for retrofit or installation of hazard mitigation measures.”
When facilities go through these retrofits, it’s critical to pay attention to the codes in place in your jurisdiction. If they’re not up to date, the facility may not have the protection it needs to properly prepare for these kinds of severe weather events. “You may even want to go above the minimum code requirements to protect assets from evolving risks,” Colker adds.
By taking these steps, facilities can identify vulnerabilities and assess what areas of their buildings need updates for a more resilient design. “Real estate teams must implement regular facility risk assessments to anticipate vulnerabilities in their assets and infrastructure,” says Erin Haglund, Managing Director, Financial Services, JLL Work Dynamics. “This hygiene is not only essential for life-cycle asset management but is critical in preparing an appropriate, proactive disaster response plan.”
Haglund also notes that having access to this data is key to creating appropriate redundancy plans for critical systems during a disaster event. “It is imperative that uninterruptible, critical systems are prioritized for diversion before an event or identified for immediate remediation in the aftermath.”
Ultimately, businesses need effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans that are up-to-date and include all procedures for various disaster outcomes. According to Haglund, “plans typically include immediate actions, roles and responsibilities. redundancy planning, partnership networks, and emergency communication protocols when response time and resources are most critical.”
Location, Location, Location
Knowing your location, and the dangers your environment is prone too (risk of flooding, likelihood of impacted by hurricane season, tornadoes forming, among others), is critical for disaster recovery preparedness. Even when selecting a location for new building, facility executives must determine their personal risk appetite and consider what natural risks they can handle.
“We are beginning to see environmental impacts shifting substantially across geographies, particularly in the southeast and west, and the cost of disaster recovery, insurance and liability are increasing,” says Haglund. “These factors will influence the cost management strategy and can play a role in where occupiers choose to invest in a physical presence.”
However, unexpected and sudden natural weather events are occurring across the globe, and no location is without risk. Facility executives also have to weight their business strategy, economics, talent strategy, and cost management when deciding which location is best for their business.
Communicating While Recovering
During a crisis, communication is key: “Communication is essential during disaster recovery: early, often and consistent,” says Haglund. “Business continuity and disaster response plans are an important part of ensuring that all stakeholders understand the details and timelines of a recovery process, modes and timing of communication, call trees and escalation paths, and roles and responsibilities in the event.
“Disasters are often chaotic, shift quickly and require agility of response. The tighter the team is to a proactive plan, the better they can pivot when the plan must change course unexpectedly.”
The Long-Term Recovery
Right after a storm hits, facility executives first and foremost need to focus on the human impact of the event. People may be injured, displaced, or their family may need significant support—that will require time and patience.
“When responding to disasters, my recommendation is always to engage with positive intent, patience and humanity,” says Haglund. “Disasters are always human first, facilities second, with safety as the top priority. Executives must set those priorities clearly and empower their teams to engage through the stress with those guiding principles.”
Then, facilities should focus on business continuity. “If the facilities are accessible and recoverable, disaster response plans drive next steps to inspect the facility for damage and develop a remediation plan on a timeline that is safe for vendors and occupants,” says Haglund.
Depending on how a disaster impacted a facility and the extend of the damage, it could take a long time for significant recovery process to be made. Haglund notes that supply chains delays can have a major impact of the rebuilding process. “Supply chain impacts can be significant and availability of resources from labor to materiality may be significantly stressed. If impact is concentrated in a region, especially unanticipated impact, sourcing the materials and equipment will be a challenge and getting resources to locations for remediation will need to be prioritized.”
In some cases, facility executives may find off-site construction to be the best path forward; the fabrication and assembly of a building component in a factory setting different than the final building site.
“Materials and workers are not exposed to the elements at the jobsite,” says Colker. “It means less waste (which translates to greater sustainability and lower cost), more precision in assembly with all trades under the same roof and sequenced efficiently (resulting in greater jobsite safety), and a dedicated workforce that’s familiar with what they are building. These benefits often translate to quicker completion times (which gets commercial buildings open sooner and generating revenue).”
When it comes to disaster recovery, this can be a valuable solution if the nearby area has been compromised and a facility’s workforce is unable to access certain areas of the building. “Because factories don’t need to be in the immediately effected community, they can support the recovery effort without putting burden on the recovering community,” says Colker. “Available housing, food and other resources can assist impacted residents and not the potential influx of construction workers and contractors.
“The ability to pre-plan and rapidly deploy off-site construction solutions can also help mitigate the economic impact of disasters, allowing businesses and communities to recover more swiftly.”
Facility executives must make critical decisions when it comes rebuilding after a catastrophic event, especially if a building was decimated in the process. Haglund believes that discussions will turn to capital investments and grounding the location strategy before any construction begins to revive a facility. “Gathering lessons learned and financial impacts are essential to benchmarking the event and planning for how we care for, manage, and update future response plans.”
Goetz is the editor of Facility Executive and its sister publication, Continuity Insights. She covers facility design, operation, and maintenance, in addition to business continuity and resilience strategies.
Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at jen@groupc.com.
