Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Checklist
With no El Nino to suppress storm formation, an unusually warm Atlantic, weaker wind shear and the wind patterns off West Africa conducive to hurricane formation, 2013 has all the right conditions to produce up to six major hurricanes of far greater individual power than Sandy.
Preparation is a necessity and these nuts-and-bolts recommendations from the Hurricane Sandy Lessons Learned Task Force will give your building an excellent start.
Please contact Sylvester Giustino at sylvester@bomany.com for the comprehensive BOMA/NY Hurricane Sandy Lessons Learned Report.
• Develop building-level business continuity/emergency recovery plans that identify minimum building staffing requirements. Plan for a minimum staffing for an extended period (greater than one week).
• Train and cross-train staff on building shut-down procedures. Conduct a "full scale building shutdown drill." Rehearse procedures which include a complete building shut-down; e.g. how to power down all building systems, where to park elevators above the lobby level, what switches need to be shut down.
• Ensure the smooth transition to temporary power generation and systems that are powered by them. Identify what limited systems can be run on temporary power. Include a rehearsal for specific procedures to power the building back up.
• Establish a social network account for the building and tenants to provide building status updates, building events. Encourage tenants to sign up and update building status frequently.
• Understand the terms and conditions of the building’s insurance policies and lease terms.
• Develop as many redundant communications systems as possible, both within the building and at selected locations offsite designed as "communications hubs" where building management can assemble and have power, internet, email and analog phone.
• Educate tenants on building minimum requirements for operations and safety (e.g. what systems must be working in order to allow tenants access to building).
BOMA/NY
http://www.bomany.org/