Flirting with disaster.

As we compiled on com this communication, I couldn't help but reflect on my own recent brush with the forces of nature. It was New Year's weekend, and I had planned a four-hour journey from my home to the mountains of Lake Tahoe in California. As I headed out on Friday, the drama was already unfolding. Multiple storms of terrific magnitude were colliding in northern and central California and dumping rain on the entire region. Upon my arrival in the mountains, instead of being greeted with a soft, snowy landscape, there were massive muddy pools and a torrential downpour. On Saturday morning I was awakened by an alarmed call from my best friend, who told me that her house, two hours south, was in danger of flooding. I wasn't sure what I could do, but I wanted to be there to help.

I arrived to find a sight that I will never forget. What had been a tiny creek near her house was now a powerful river lapping at the doorstep. By definition, crisis offers drama, and this crisis was no exception. For the next 24 hours, sometimes with flashlight in hand, we watched the river and planned our strategy in case it flooded the house. The media added to the tension with TV news reports showing cars stranded on flooded roadways and people clinging to trees as streets turned into rivers. But the river receded, and the danger passed.

On the drive home I contemplated my friend's good fortune. It made me think of all of the disasters that take place all over the world, where people are not so lucky, where lives are destroyed and businesses ruined. I thought back to a presentation given by crisis expert, communication veteran and former New Orleans resident Charles Pizzo, ABC. Charles described some horrific and unimaginable situations that he, his friends and his family members witnessed during and after Hurricane Katrina. He talked about the lessons learned and about how some of the simplest planning and communication could save lives and enable businesses to survive.

I also thought of the survey conducted through the IABC Research Foundation by Robert Holland and Katrina Gill. I remembered how Robert had called me with this terrific idea to do a survey that would investigate the level of crisis preparedness, and ultimately provide IABC members with important learning points. I am so glad he made that call because of the valuable results the survey delivered and the fact that we could make it the cover story for this issue (see page 20).

I found it interesting to learn that one-third of the 600 survey respondents had no formal crisis plan in place, and that about half of those people had had to quickly assemble a plan to cope with a disaster. Not surprisingly, nearly all (99 percent) of the survey respondents who used a plan found it to be effective in managing the crisis. There's much more to this survey, and I think you'll find that Robert and Katrina did a fine job of offering some interesting perspective and useful analysis.

It's easy to forget how devastating a crisis can be, but the reminders are all around us. It's a grim thought, but we need to remember that the unthinkable can happen anywhere and to anyone. And if one possible solution is in our preparedness, then let's start now.

Natasha Spring, Executive Editor