Planning is Crucial to Long-Term Disaster Recovery, Says BCLC Report

When a disaster hits, there’s not a lot of time to move into action. To facilitate a speedy disaster recovery, a community most have on-the-ground expert analysis, clear goal-setting, and a well-defined division of labor, according to a new report issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) on July 1. 

BCLC brought together emergency response experts for the report, On the Brink: Re-Engineering the Nation’s Disaster Response Processes. The report is a collection of 26 essays from corporations, local chambers of commerce, federal and local governments, academia, and humanitarian-aid organizations. 

Using lessons learned from past major disasters such as hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Rita, the Southeast Asia tsunami, and the 2007 wildfires in southern California, the report recommends five ways communities and local business leadership can work together to prepare for every stage of disaster response:

• Find the right balance of focus on the three response phases — preparedness and mitigation, relief, and long-term recovery
• Work together
• Be smarter in recovery
• Find leadership in local chambers of commerce
• Use empirical research

“Renewal and revitalization are part of the healing process — otherwise, the job is not finished,” says Stephen Jordan, senior vice president and executive director of BCLC.

Jordan stresses that for businesses, disasters do no just level property; they also destroy consumer confidence, eat away at potential customers’ income, and destabilize markets for long periods. Jordan said he hopes BCLC’s report will encourage more holistic disaster recovery programs in the future.

To learn more, go to  www.uschamber.com/bclc/resources/pubs/

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