Hurricane Preparedness for political campaigns

Ever since Orlando, Florida suffered through three hurricanes within in six weeks of each other during the 2004 campaign season, I've advised other activists that they should have a plan in place for dealing with natural disasters.

Here is what I had to learn the hard way:

After you have considered your own situation, be prepared to help the campaigns you are working with to batten down the hatches in order to recover quickly afterward. Make sure that office quipment is secured and that computers, paper files, campaign literature and other equipment are protected from debris, flood and rain damage.

Also, designate one reliable person to ensure that all critical computer data (such as voter databases, volunteer lists, voter ID's etc.) is backed up and a safety copy is stored off site in case of catastrophic damage to the headquarters.

While we are on the subject of catastrophic damage: Have a plan to relocate the entire campaign and bring it back up somewhere else in a worst-case scenario. Make sure volunteers and the media know where this new location will be.

Be prepared to have some non-campaigning "downtime" in the schedule where you focus on helping the community recover rather than getting out the word out about the campaign. The good will generated will be remembered much longer by the voters anyways.

Since I live in Florida, I had hurricanes in mind when I wrote this. However, most of these tips could apply to any campaign working in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

I'm curious if any readers of Brainshrub.com have experiences and lessons they would like to add? Please so so in the comments.

Doug De Clue
Former Orlando Kerry Campaign Staffer
Survivor of Hurricanes Opel, Charley, Frances, and Jeanne
Orlando, FL

No counterpoint today.

Tags: disaster - hurricane - political campaign - preparedness - disaster preparedness for political campaigns

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