Does
your association have a preparedness plan (we have been asked that
by absent owners)
Here
is our work in progress (WIP) -
• create
an emergency to-do list and a preparedness plan
• maintain
a roster of residents, Assoc bank information and staff information,
including names, addresses and phone numbers
• maintain
keys to each unit
• have
copies of the wind, flood and property insurance policies digitally,
as well as in water-proof containers
•
photograph/take video of the interiors and exteriors of
the property and common areas, for before and after proofs.
• collect
emergency supplies in event of an emergency, including flashlights,
batteries, radios, water and non-perishables See previous post.
• review
the insurance deductible to determine whether the association has
necessary funds on hand, or if it has to plan to obtain some, in
event of an emergency
• verify
emergency evacuation routes
• prior
to a storm, contact vendors to take precautionary measures, such as
cutting down trees, clearing debris, securing common elements, and
shuttering windows/doors. Involve maintenance company as needed.
• plan
for water and electric shut-off times and furniture storage !?
• assign
a communications facilitator to keep residents updated and informed,
possibly via association website or text messaging
• know
which residents will remain on the property during the emergency
• encourage
all residents to stay informed
Florida, statute doesn’t dictate exactly what an association must plan for when it comes to emergencies. Of course, a board still has a fiduciary duty to protect its property and residents. It’s
in the association’s best interests to be ready for an emergency,
even if the law isn’t breathing down its back. Shari Wald Garrett,
an associate at the law firm of Siegfried, Rivera, Hyman, Lerner, De
La Torre, Mars, and Sobel, P.A., offers these suggestions to
associations, noting that these are not all-inclusive.
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Yi, yi, yi! And I thought we were finally OUT of the hurricane season and could relax for a few months! You are a hard taskmaster, Elaine.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because I am older and have become a curmudgeon, but when I see these long lists of WHAT TO DO and HOW TO PREPARE, I groan and think "Good grief, I'll never get all THAT done." My eyes glaze over after reading the fourth line. I think more and more: "Oh, let the winds blow!"
I wonder if you and those who put out these lists might take a different tack. Use the hurricane off-season to find people who will do these things FOR US. For a fee, of course. Just think, for perhaps $100 I could hire someone to buy me the right kind of groceries, some candles, batteries, a book or two to read while I'm squashed up in the tiny closet, which is supposed to be the safest room in the apartment—and all the rest. Okay, maybe $100 wouldn't do it, but $300 might.
What do you think, Elaine, O Concerned One for our best interests?
Lanny these items are all available in buckets. There is the Emergency Survival Kit that should come with a handy tool person, and the Food Kits. A FEMA approved site is Stealth Angel with dozens of variants that may give you *dreams. A one-person elite survival kit is around $100 and comes in a snazzy backpack. Nuff said.
DeleteHi Elaine.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice reply from you—no biting sarcasm (which I deserve)—just more help. You are the best.
Now, just to clarify—by "available in buckets," I take it you mean this literally, not metaphorically. I especially like the sound of the "handy tool person." I assume this is a real person who will perform fix-it chores in my apartment—is this right? I could use that, especially now that I am in my eighties with everything now reversed. Women unscrew bottle caps for me, and when I use my cane (a valuable adjunct, by the way), people clear the way for me ("Make way, make way," they cry), women open doors for me, and it's just great. I should have bought myself a cane years ago.
She's not a tool person per se, but I now have a cleaning person, a young woman from Honduras (no, not plucked out of the immigration line) who in one visit transformed this place I live in. It's so neat and clean now. She comes every two weeks, and the place sparkles after she leaves. I have a lot of odds and ends, and she has found places for them, believe it or not. She has changed the whole set-up of my kitchen cupboards and drawers. For the first time in a long time I don't feel embarrassed by inviting people over. Sometimes I don't know where she has put something, but that's a detail, and I figure anyway she knows better than I where to put things. "Organizing" is what you call this talent, I believe. After she is gone, it's rather fun to guess "Now where is that colander?" and to find something ("Aha! THAT'S where my emergency flashlight went!").
Thanks, Elaine. You've been a big help.