Electricity is never more precious or more scarce than after a disaster. Lights are out, telephones disabled, businesses shut down. People may need food, water, heat and medical attention. There can be no real recovery without power, yet no one can predict when utility service will come back. The distance between continuity and chaos in… Continue reading Power Reliability: Planning Ahead Closes the Gap Between Continuity and Chaos

Most media are swallowing whole the current Y2K happy talk coming from corporations and government agencies. Information Week, for example, reported earlier this year that “There seems to be a growing consensus that year 2000 computer problems at most major U.S. businesses will be nothing more than minor annoyances that can be easily managed.” Perhaps.… Continue reading It’s Y2K Crunch Time: Disaster Recovery Managers Looking for Effective Y2K Two Minute Drills

An estimated $1.1 billion in damages occurred when massive tornadoes cut paths of destruction across Oklahoma and Kansas. As many as 76 tornadoes hit the region on May 3, spawned from “supercell” thunderstorms that formed during the late afternoon. The tornadoes’ paths stretched more than 100 miles through 14 counties from southwest to northeast Oklahoma… Continue reading Economy, Businesses Hit Hard by May Twisters

The biggest Y2K myth I hear, even today, is that by declaring a disaster on the dawn of a new millennium, a company can buy some time to fix any significant date related problem(s) they may have. That is simply wrong! If you or your management holds true to this belief, or erroneous hope, may… Continue reading Y2K Myth, Contingency Planners, and Reality

It doesn’t have to be a Level 5 Hurricane or measure 7.0 on the Richter scale to be considered a major disaster anymore. On June 14th, eBay executives, employees, traders, investors, the media, and the world watched as eBay stock value plummeted by $4 billion dollars. The devaluation occurred because of an all-day (22-hour) outage… Continue reading It Wasn’t a Hurricane or an Earthquake, But For Some E-Commerce Businesses It Might As Well Have Bee

Computerm Channel Extension Plays Key Role in FacilitatingCheck Processing Backup and Recovery When two separate tornadoes tore through downtown Nashville, Tenn., on the afternoon of April 16, they damaged five of NationBank’s facilities, including our regional check processing facility. There were many tense moments that night for many people in the Nashville area, which was… Continue reading Nashville Tornadoes Test NationsBank’s Contingency Preparedness Plan

Over the past six years, an increased magnitude and severity of the threat of terrorist attacks have occurred worldwide. Recent attacks include: 1993 – The New York City World Trade Center bombing killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others (it has now been revealed that cyanide gas was part of the plan); 1995… Continue reading Preparing for Terrorist Weapons of Mass Destruction

New Orleans is known for food, jazz and a joie-de-vivre that comes alive at Mardi Gras. It promises to be a hot destination for New Year’s Eve revelers this year, welcoming in the new century. New Orleans is also the point of convergence for several industries, including petroleum, manufacturing and shipping. With international shipping, it… Continue reading Emergency Operations at the Port of New Orleans: 2000.01.01

Corporations can not meet today’s levels of productivity and expectations for corporate earnings if their systems, networks or critical suppliers have interruptions that affect productivity. Likewise, if customers do not choose to buy your products or services for any reason, an interruption to corporate earnings expectations could occur. Disaster recovery as an industry has evolved… Continue reading Competitive Diligence

As I live in California, it is natural that I reflect my emergency management knowledge and experiences in the way things are done here. To the extent possible, I will try and provide my thoughts, from a universal emergency management perspective, of several issues impacting emergency management including Government Roles, Who’s Responsible, Program Elements, The… Continue reading Emergency Management: To Be or Not to Be