Reporters: Do your own corporate-disaster preparedness

Photo by Flickr user Daquella manera

From Nashville to Chile to China, it seems our poor battered globe has been providing the biggest news stories of the past year, and no matter what Mother Nature wreaks, there’s always a business or financial angle.

Add in the man-made disasters like the Gulf oil spill, large-scale electric blackouts, hazmat spills, cruise-ship epidemics and other mayhem, and covering catastrophe could almost be a full-time biz beat.

In the first instance, companies can be sources of aid, money, comfort and expertise.  In the latter, they are newsworthy for causing harm to humans, animals, the environment and the economy.  Either way the stories are compelling and the sagas tend to last a long time.

Before chaos strikes, take heed of what your fellow journalists have been up to lately by perusing sites like NOLA.com and Tennessean.com, which has a detailed flood resource channel.  As hurricanes, tornado activity, heat waves, thunderstorms and other weather trends heating up  plan ahead with resources and experts that can help you cover the next fiasco.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is a good place to start; you might think of it as a resource for metro reporters but the site actually offers info and links on a lot of finance-related topics, from flood insurance to an extensive emergency management guide for businesses. You should read through this online segment – each section is a virtual line item on a checklist of questions you can ask local employers and companies with large footprints about their preparedness plans.

Note also the link to state emergency management offices; I’d say an introductory chat with officials in your region would be prudent so they know you when disaster strikes.  Get to know United Way, Red Cross and Salvation Army officials in your area – not just the administrative executives, but the board members drawn from the community.  Often these participants are high-visibility local “C-suite” managers – getting to know them through their philanthropic activities will kill two birds with one stone should you be faced with covering a local crisis.

Photo by Flickr user hmerinomx

Also be sure to acquaint yourself with your state’s insurance commissioner or regulator; that person will play a role in disseminating consumer news should a situation prompting large-scale claims develop.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners site offers interesting background material, legislative issues and an interactive map with links to state offices.   If you’re aiming at a consumer finance piece, check out the NAIC tips for people trying to understand their insurance policies and formulate a household inventory.

Security firms and other commercial solutions providers operate sites offering advice, news, tips and other information for corporate managers.  This one, SearchDisasterRecovery.com, offers help for IT professionals in planning for catastrophic events and recovery.  Note that the news page includes a reference to an AT&T simulation in Detroit; perhaps you can monitor sites like this related to major local industries to learn of disaster drills at companies in your neck of the woods.  Also be on the lookout for local recovery firms — mostly in the engineering or supply-chain sectors – that specialize in remediating hazmat and other industrial mishaps.

This article from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship talks about what companies can and should do in the event of natural disasters.  Note the clues in the article that point to how corporations like Office Depot forming philanthropic foundations – that might be a fresh angle to explore.

Also, the center’s blogs offer broad insight into corporate volunteering, disaster recovery and the like; well worth a scroll.

This Forbes channel  on corporate citizenship also features some food for thought.  And don’t overlook area business and management schools for expertise; find out now which faculty and professors might make competent analysts when you’re in the thick of covering a corporate crisis.

Also, check out Mark S. Luckie’s post on having your the multimedia part of your disaster-coverage plan ready. Luckie is the author of the blog, 10,000 Words, “where journalism and technology meet,” and the book, The Digital Journalist’s Handbook.