Strategic Disaster Planning

Source: ICMA.

Those who work with communities in the aftermath of natural disasters see the importance of advance planning firsthand. Disaster plans save time, money, headaches and, ultimately, they can save lives. In short, planning makes disasters less disastrous.

And yet, it can be difficult for communities to prioritize disaster planning, particularly for those with limited time, budget, or staff. These communities can also be hit the hardest when a disaster does strike.

One of the biggest challenges we see during disaster response and recovery is that these communities all have people with a regular day job, and then they have disaster work piled on top of it,” says Blake Ratcliff, director of economic development and disaster recovery, Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS). >>