Developing a Disaster Communication Plan

We cannot prevent natural disasters, but we can be as prepared as possible for them. Disasters happen every day, but in the Caribbean, hurricane season begins on June 1st and lasts until November. This year's season is predicted to be one of the busiest. Outside of the differing number of storms, the seasons are the same time every year, and this means we can prepare in advance by having a disaster communication plan.

A disaster communication plan manages the dissemination of information before, during, and after a disaster. It ensures that all stakeholders can effectively communicate during one of these crises.

Understanding Disaster Communication

A disaster communication plan refers to the methods used to communicate information during and after a disaster. The goal is to get the right message to the right people at the right time. This ensures that harm is minimized, and safety is facilitated and hopefully assured. This involves both internal and external communications.

The purpose of a disaster plan is:

Safety
Coordination
Reassurance
Continuity
Recovery

A disaster communication plan can be used for a variety of disasters, including natural disasters, man-made disasters, and technological disasters.

Key Components of A Disaster Communication Plan

Meteorologists have determined that Summer 2024 will be a busy hurricane season. Storms have become more intense in shorter periods of time. We are not experiencing the storms of yesteryear, and the storm preparation of the past won’t cut it.

Pulling together a disaster communication plan is not a simple task, but by understanding its components, you can begin the process of creating one. Some vital parts include:

Risk Assessment and Management:
Communication Channels
Stakeholder Identification
Message Development
Roles and Responsibilities
Testing

Crafting The Perfect Disaster Communications Plan

In a disaster, the messages you rely on are important. Training your team beforehand is essential. For a solid plan, you can include the following in your planning to be ready for when disaster strikes.

Assess the risks: The goal of this is to understand which disasters could hit your business.

Know which messages will and will not work for your audience.
Identify potential disasters
Evaluate the impact and the likelihood they’ll hit
Gather data: research past incidents. This is also a good time to talk to industry experts to understand the likelihood of certain disasters and past actions they’ve taken.

Establish Communication Channels: You want to be on the right channels so that your audiences can see your messages. If you don’t know who your audience is, this is the perfect opportunity to find them.

Internal channels, such as email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and anything used for internal communications, are included.
External channels such as Facebook, Instagram, websites, and SMS alerts.
Backup channels. In case external channels are knocked out. If there isn’t an existing plan for this, now is the time to set it.
Social Media Strategy. If you don't already have a subsection for disasters, this is an ideal time to create one. This subsection should include who is responsible for getting the messages out and on which platforms.

3. Identify Stakeholders: Your organization needs to know who should be contacted in case of a disaster.

Internal stakeholders, such as employees, management, or board members, who are important to disaster response, should be identified early on. You may also want to identify team members who are essential for an effective disaster response and provide clarity on their roles during the disaster. I will mention more about this below.
External stakeholders: these may include customers, suppliers, the local community, media, and emergency services.
Contact lists: Update the contact list of vital stakeholders and double-check that the email addresses and numbers are correct.
Make sure you’ve not forgotten key stakeholders. There may be people involved in the company that do not fall under the above.

4. Develop key messages and establish a plan of action: Compose clear and concise messages for several scenarios.

Create message templates: No one should be crafting messages in a disaster. This ensures that messages are created and can be copied and pasted when necessary.
Ensure your messages have core elements: the “who,” “what,” “when,” and “where.”
Tone and Clarity: All your messages should be calm yet assertive. Use simple, straightforward language.
Multilingual support: Have messages prepared in different languages if stakeholders speak different languages.
Write your messages down.

5. Stay up to date: Things happen quickly in a disaster. Each person needs to communicate quickly and accurately or have the tools to do so.

Regularly update the public and your team. There should be a regular cadence of meetings.
Everyone deserves timely and factual information during a disaster so they can make informed decisions.

6. Assign Responsibilities: Everyone on your team has a different responsibility. Everyone should know their roles before a disaster hits.

Crisis Communications Team: In my blog Communicating Through Crisis, I wrote about building a Crisis Communications Team. This is a great resource for building your team. You cannot handle a disaster by yourself; there are too many things that can go wrong. You need things to go right. Form a team of internal partners that can cover all the bases.
Role descriptions: I cannot stress this enough: everyone has a role, and everyone should be well aware of that role before the disaster. Again, write it down and provide training.
Chain of command: Establish a clear chain of command and decision-making process.

7. Build and Make Disaster Communications Plans Accessible: Your disaster communications plan doesn’t just need to be created, it needs to be accessible to all.

Accessibility differs from person to person. To combat this, conduct research to ensure that your plan is indeed accessible.
Consider the persons who won’t have access to the internet, the visually impaired, hard of hearing, or different languages.
Have things in your arsenal ready to launch that include accessibility for all. Items such as a website ready to launch and social media accounts ready to go when it’s time would be helpful. Even creating templates for content would be helpful.
You must be overly prepared and ready to go at the drop of a dime.

8. Train Regularly: Everyone should be prepared, so don’t skip training.

Regular Training Sessions: Implement simulation training, just like fire drills. Coordinate with emergency services and focus on the disaster plan and your employees' specific roles.
Feedback and improvement: Evaluate each employee’s performance, give feedback, and, if necessary, update the plan.

Implementing The Plan

After the disaster communications plan has been created, it’s important to set the criteria for activating the plan.

This is where you set who is responsible for activating the plan and what situations warrant its activation in whole or in part.

To ensure a smooth and efficient response when the plan is activated, consider the following.

Initial Notification: Immediately notify key internal stakeholders.- Next, notify externally through established stakeholders- Emergency services
Ongoing Updates: Provide regular updates. Schedule regular updates to keep everyone informed about the disaster.- Use all available communication channels to ensure maximum reach.- Continuously monitor the situation and stakeholder feedback. Adjust messages and plan if necessary.
Final Reports: When the disaster has ended, communicate to all involved.- Outline the steps to recovery and return to normal procedures.- Express gratitude to all involved and acknowledge all efforts.

The work isn’t done here. Once the disaster has passed, it’s time to adjust the plan according to what worked and what didn’t. This is the time to conduct debriefing sessions. Allow all involved to express their thoughts on what worked and what didn’t. Ask for suggestions on how to improve for the next time.

What you learn is the framework for how you update and improve your communications plan.

Conclusion

Disaster can hit at any moment. It’s beyond our control. What we can control is how your team prepares and responds. The idea is to never be caught off guard at any time. Prepare for anything and everything, as disasters, by nature, defy planning.

As a communications professional, it is your responsibility to ensure that your business or organization is prepared for anything that blows your way. If you use this guide to prepare, along with your experiences, you’ll find yourself prepared.

If you’d like advice on how to prepare a disaster communication plan or would like assistance in creating one, book a 30-minute call with me.

Joey Gaskins is a public affairs professional with a formidable record of designing and executing innovative strategies, campaigns, and tactics—turning around negative perceptions, reaffirming trust, amplifying and influencing policies, and achieving unprecedented results.

Connect with him on LinkedIn.