Last updated on Jul 6, 2024

You're caught off guard by sudden weather shifts. How do you modify your emergency response plans?

Unexpected weather can strike at any moment, leaving you scrambling to adapt your emergency response plans. Whether it's a sudden snowstorm, flash flood, or heatwave, these events challenge even the most seasoned emergency management professionals. Your ability to respond quickly and effectively can mean the difference between a minor hiccup and a major disaster. The key is to have a flexible plan that can be modified on the fly to address the unique challenges posed by sudden weather shifts.

1 Assess Risks

When weather patterns change unexpectedly, your first step is to assess the new risks. This means quickly gathering information about the weather event and its potential impact on your community or organization. Evaluate the severity, duration, and geographical spread of the event. Understanding these factors will help you identify which parts of your emergency response plan need immediate adjustment and what resources you must mobilize to ensure safety and minimize damage.

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Mark Leevers

Operations Duty Officer, Volunteer SAR Pilot
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Observe, Orientate, Decide and Act. (Col. J. Boyd) Maintaining situational awareness is crucial when dealing with change and keeping people safe. OODA needs to be a constant loop and continued action, not just a 'once and done' assessment.

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2 Update Plans

After assessing the risks, it's crucial to update your emergency response plans accordingly. This might involve reallocating resources, such as emergency personnel and equipment, to areas that are now at higher risk. Communication strategies should also be revised to ensure that timely and accurate information reaches all stakeholders. If evacuation or shelter-in-place orders are necessary, determine the safest routes or locations based on the current weather conditions.

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Benjamin Almquist CEM

Emergency Management Professional with years of proven results in assessment, organizational change, coordinated response, team building, and problem solving. Seeking long-term and contract positions in consulting.
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To clarify...this should not be a modification in your EOP, HMP, or any other conceptual plan. It should be a modification to your Incident Action Plan which is specific to the active event. As far as that goes, your planning cycle should incorporate this as a matter of practice already. This is why we have a planning cycle. For immediate needs and changes due to life safety, that should be built into the authorities of your field supervisors. They will communicate that back to the EOC/CP to ensure that everything has been recorded and tracked.

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Adam Montella, MPA, CHS-V, CMP

Executive Vice President @ SummitET… Preparedness Is Not An Accident
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I concur with Benjamin Almquist CEM. A CEMP, EOP, functional annex, or hazard-specific annex should be build to address “worst-case” based on a thorough assessment of anticipated consequences, current capabilities and resources. The plans should involve the “whole community” of planning partners. The resulting plans are less important than the planning that went into their creation. When faced with an unanticipated weather event (or any emergency for that matter), the plans serve as a framework for developing an incident action plan to address the specifics of the emergency. Those managing the incident already know the capabilities and resources of all the partners from the planning process, and can adjust the response accordingly.

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3 Engage Team

Your emergency response team is your most valuable asset during sudden weather changes. Engage with them promptly, providing clear instructions and updates about the evolving situation. Ensure that each team member understands their role and responsibilities in the modified plan. Regular briefings are essential as the situation can change rapidly, and your team must be ready to adapt to new instructions.

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4 Communicate Clearly

Clear communication during an emergency is critical. You need to inform those affected about the weather shift and what it means for their safety. Utilize all available channels—public address systems, social media, email, and text alerts—to disseminate information. Be transparent about the situation and provide guidance on what actions to take. Remember, misinformation can lead to panic, so keep your messages accurate and straightforward.

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5 Review Resources

Take stock of your resources to ensure they are sufficient and appropriate for the new weather conditions. This includes reviewing your supplies, such as food, water, and medical kits, as well as checking the readiness of shelters and transportation vehicles. If necessary, procure additional resources quickly or redirect existing ones to where they are needed most. It's also important to have backup plans for critical infrastructure, like power and communication systems, that may be affected by the weather.

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6 Train Continuously

Finally, continuous training is essential for effective emergency management, especially when dealing with unpredictable weather. Regular drills and exercises that simulate sudden weather changes can help your team become more agile and responsive. Encourage team members to think on their feet and make quick decisions. This practice not only prepares them for real-life scenarios but also helps identify any gaps in your emergency response plans that need addressing.

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Adam Montella, MPA, CHS-V, CMP

Executive Vice President @ SummitET… Preparedness Is Not An Accident
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Exercises provide a safe environment to pressure test plans, and just like plan development, should involve the “whole community” of stakeholders that helped develop the plan. Stakeholders should not only include the agencies and organizations that respond to the emergency but also the employees, citizens, or visitors the plans are intended to support. The greatest variable in any emergency or disaster is people. People will never react or behave the way we expect them to, even if they have experienced the same emergency before. Like people’s reactions, no two disasters are the same. Exercises should present a variety of situations to diverse participants, allowing planners to evaluate the response from different perspectives.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Steven Kuhr
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An effective Emergency Management program should never be caught off guard by weather. While the science of weather does present with some surprises, a Crisis Management program should have a “Watch Officer” function to monitor weather and communicate with the area Weather Service Forecast Office. A Watch function can be either a watch center, a SOC, or an individual duty officer dialed into weather feeds, distributions and apps so as to remain aware of evolving weather situations. Every WSFO has a Warning Coordination Meteorologist who liaisons with the EM community. Communication with the WCM is two street and a relationship worth nurturing. The Watch Officer should send weather situational awareness to leadership and the CMT as needed.

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Adam Montella, MPA, CHS-V, CMP

Executive Vice President @ SummitET… Preparedness Is Not An Accident
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We have all seen these plans - Purpose, Objectives, Authorities, References, CONOPS...perhaps 30-40 pages in before we get to actionable content. A base plan should contain the big picture elements, supported by playbooks that get right to “so what do I do, with what resources?” For example, create a shelter playbook providing instructions for managing a shelter, and the personnel and resources required for a basic shelter or one that takes pets or serves special needs populations. It then does not matter what disaster caused the need for a shelter but a matter of scale and nuance. Do you need one shelter or ten? Need support for special needs or pets? One playbook can then be used to support unlimited types and scopes of disasters.

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Daniel M.

Leadership is a Lifestyle II Police Sergeant II Aspiring Project Manager II Volunteer Non-Profit Grant Writer
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The after event analysis has to be the tertiary phase after planning and execution are completed. During this third phase the team leaders can focus on what was done properly, along with areas that may need some attention. Unless there was blatant failure there is no need to squabble. Yes, this means you too! We place our insights on the table, discuss various ways to improve for the following event, and documents the entire process. Working the 4th of July parade in Philadelphia a few years back there was a monstrous storm that swept through. Subsequent years had tents that we capable of covering staff...ironically when another storm poured on us some years later. "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." -Benjamin Franklin

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You're caught off guard by sudden weather shifts. How do you modify your emergency response plans?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess Risks

2 Update Plans

3 Engage Team

4 Communicate Clearly

5 Review Resources

6 Train Continuously

7 Here’s what else to consider

Emergency Management

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You're caught off guard by sudden weather shifts. How do you modify your emergency response plans?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess Risks

2 Update Plans

3 Engage Team

4 Communicate Clearly

5 Review Resources

6 Train Continuously

7 Here’s what else to consider

Emergency Management

Rate this article

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