Lessons Learned From Recent Hurricanes
Can You Contribute?

Here is a preliminary outline of the article(s) on lessons from recent hurricanes.  If you have experiences or insights you care to share which fit into the outline, or answers to questions at the bottom of this page, the Publishers would like to hear from you!  You can email your responses to publisher@disaster-resource.com .  Thanks in advance!!

<INTRO>
Three years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Ike offered the disaster management community an opportunity to implement the lessons learned. How did we measure up? Disaster Resource Guide finds out.

1. Lessons of Preparation
   • Emergency management planning (How did it change this time around?)
   • Evacuation planning (What was the process? How did it work out?)
   • Communication systems (How did businesses and government bodies ensure robust communication systems remained in place?)
     
     
2. The Aftermath
   1. Shelter (Were shelter-in-place plans executed? How did providers ensure response times were efficient and there was enough shelter to go around?)
   2. Food (What were the challenges involved and how did catering companies, restaurants, etc respond to these challenges?)
   3. Sanitation
   4. Restoration
      
      
3. Room for improvement
   1. Lack of planning on behalf of small businesses
   2. Private sector involvement? (Did more companies get involved this time around?)
   3. Personal preparedness (What were individuals doing to help themselves? And what were companies doing to ensure this happened?)

SOME QUESTIONS WHICH MAY MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS ARTICLE.  If its easier, just insert your responses and send this word file back to publisher@disaster-resource.com.

1. In terms of emergency preparedness, what are some things your company/organization learned from Hurricane Katrina that you implemented in preparing for Hurricane Ike?

2. How was your community or industry better prepared for Ike as a whole? Please give two or three detailed examples.

3. How did your community improve its evacuation and communication systems?

4. How did your company/organization better respond to the aftermath of Hurricane Ike? What implemented actions allowed you to keep your business running? What actions helped your company/organization recover quicker -- and minimize downtime?

5. Overall, how did you find available shelter, sanitation and restoration recovery in your community?

6. What lessons still need to be learned when it comes to emergency preparedness and recovery?