May 17, 2006—Citing the feared outbreak of avian flu in the US, disaster planning experts at the recent CoreNet Global Summit of corporate real estate executives urged companies to prepare for the next 9/11 or the next Hurricane Katrina.
At a panel entitled “Hurricanes, Fires, and Blackouts—Oh My! Best Practices in Disaster Planning,” industry leaders cited best practices instituted before recent natural calamities and urged commercial property owners and tenants to establish processes in order to mitigate human and economic losses, and to respond effectively in the midst of a natural or manmade disaster.
Specific cases were cited, such as that of American Financial Realty Trust (AFRT), which has over 1,100 buildings in the Southeast region. AFRT deployed a Jones Lang Lasalle Web-based tool called “4Sight” to help protect AFRT’s considerable bank assets in the region. The software helped AFRT with planning, safety, compliance, and preparation for what became Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and helped stem what would have been much more severe property losses from those storms.
Panelists urged other property owners and tenants to adopt disaster plans for their businesses, communicate openly and clearly up and down the decision chain, lock in fuel vendors, practice disaster plans frequently, and consider the human factor when disaster strikes.
One panelist recommended that businesses with critical systems use redundant communication systems including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), satellite phones, and simple “phone trees” to easily locate geographically displaced colleagues during disasters.
With the possibility of an avian flu pandemic spreading in the US, another panelist urged businesses to begin planning for the possibility of large numbers of employees working at home for two weeks at a time. He said to ensure that “there is enough technology to enable work, that access to the building is restricted, and that surfaces are sanitized” to prevent the flu from spreading as much as possible.
