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Business Continuity Planning and Preparation
Everyone knows how important it is to be prepared in an emergency, but several events of the 21st Century have brought those topics to our attention with a new sense of urgency. The tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Tsunami in Indonesia on December 26, 2004, and 2005's record-breaking hurricane season are just a few of the stories that highlight the importance of being prepared for natural and man-made disasters. Earthquakes, wildfires, and mudslides are additional reminders of the need for personal, community, and business emergency plans.
The American Red Cross advises that being prepared for emergencies is crucial at home, school, work and in your community. Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood, workplace or school or can confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services -- water, gas, electricity or telephones--were cut off? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away. The best way to make you and your family safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes.
Scroll down this page or click on one of the links to quickly jump down to view the information that you need:
- Emergency Preparedness for Your Business
- Emergency Preparedness for You and Your Family
- Special Tips for Homeowners
- The American Red Cross: Helping Those In Need
- ALTA® Education and Articles
- ALTA® In Action: Disaster-Specific Response
Emergency Preparedness for Your Business
Is it time to develop or review your company's emergency plan? The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's READYBusiness Section provides an overview as well as a Sample Emergency Plan that you can use to help formulate your company's Emergency Plan covering both Business Continuity issues and Disaster Preparedness. The Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA") has provided FEMA's Emergency Management Guide For Business & Industry, another step-by-step planning resource that can help.
Quick Tip: Arrange for Online Remote Backups. Check out one of these or many other companies offering online remote backup for your electronic files:
Emergency Preparedness for You and Your Family
Knowing that you and your family are prepared for emergencies can help manage worries and uncertainty. FEMA Addresses Personal Preparedness in An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness. This information will help you as well as your colleagues develop personal preparedness plans so that everyone can be confident of their own preparedness as well as their family's ability to react according to a well-considered plan. The American Red Cross Web site has a section called "Get Prepared" with tips on preparation for Home, School, Work and Community.
Special Tips for Homeowners
Keeping important personal documents available in an emergency will be crucial to your preparedness plan. The easiest way to make sure you will have the documentation you need is to make copies of important documents (or scan documents and save the file to a disk or CD-ROM) and send a copy to trusted counsel, family members, or friends who live in a different part of the country for safe-keeping. Offer to do the same for them in return.
If you find yourself in need of documents from a real estate closing, you may wish to contact your Title Insurance Underwriter for assistance:
The American Red Cross: Helping Those In Need
When we see the stories of people just like us who are suddenly in need, it's natural to want to help but it's sometimes difficult to know what we can do. In every single case, it is mission of the American Red Cross to be there and help those in need — whether disaster strikes thousands of people at once or one family in the middle of the night. To learn more about the American Red Cross and how you can help, visit http://www.redcross.org.
ALTA® Education and Articles
Title News Coverage March/April 2002: Preparing Your Technology For A Disaster
Tech Forum 2003: When Disaster Strikes! Providing for Business Continuity
ALTA® In Action: Disaster-Specific Response
Hurricane Katrina stuck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005. In addition to the tragic impact for many communities, the ability of ALTA® Members to transact the business of supporting the legal and reliable transfer of interests in real property was significantly impaired.
ALTA® Members reacted quickly, with offers of technology support and assistance, as well as job offers for Gulf Coast title professionals who made the difficult decision to relocate to other areas of the country. More information on these offers can be found on ALTA®'s Hurricane Katrina Clearinghouse page. You may also wish to visit these Web sites for more information about the recovery:
- Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
- Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
- The Mississippi Bar: Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief
Communities are still recovering and local newspapers and resources often tell the tale of hard work, both on the part of residents and volunteers. Read more:
- From Waveland, Mississippi: Waveland - - Reaching Out From Ground Zero: What Waveland Needs Eight Months After Katrina, Gulf Coast News, April 25, 2006
- From Biloxi, Mississippi: Hurricane Preparedness Tip of the Day, The Sun Herald, New Tip Every Day
The ALTA® Board of Governors approved a resolution to help in the recovery. Click here to read the resolution. Part of the resolution was the formation of the ALTA® Disaster Task Force, to be chaired by ALTA® Past-President Stanley Friedlander. The Task Force has made a study of the impacts on the region, most particularly the impact on the title industry and recording operations in counties and parishes. The Task Force has developed a two-pronged approach to helping support recovery efforts:
1. Get back to business: County and Parish recording operations have indicated the need for basic business tools and equipment. If you have furniture, computers, printers, or copiers that you can donate to assist impacted clerks and recorders, please contact Stephen Bruno to help in Louisiana, Stephen Oakes to help in Mississippi, or ALTA® for general information.
Does your business need furniture, computers, printers, or copiers to get back to business as usual? Contact ALTA® Staff at ALTA® Staff to help us get the word out.
2. Get ahead of the curve: Technology Products and Services continue to be available from ALTA® Member Vendors to title industry companies struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Resources are available from these same companies to assist county and parish recording operations. Please contact the vendors or ALTA® for more information.
Does your company provide the products and services that can help title companes and recording operations improve as they rebuild? Simply contact ALTA® Staff to join these companies who have offered their assistance to businesses impacted by Hurricane Katrina and Rita:
