Moderator: Dexter King IAAM
Greg Davis The Cajundome
Doug Thornton SMG

There was a somber start, with a slideshow depicting the devastation in New Orleans and surrounding region in the wake of last fall’s Hurricane Katrina, set to the tune of Bruce Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins.”

Setting the tone, moderator Dexter King explained that facility managers are also public servants, particularly during natural disasters such as hurricanes. Despite all the publicity that surrounded Katrina, large facilities such as stadiums and arenas have often served the public during disasters.

SMG’s Doug Thornton knows this as well as anyone. As the company’s southeastern VP, he has overseen operations at several venues used as shelters, most famously the Superdome in New Orleans.

As he put it, “Katrina was not our first time at the rodeo.” It was actually the fourth time the Superdome was used during a hurricane – not technically as a shelter, but as a “refuge of last resort.”

While much media attention was placed on the Superdome during the Katrina disaster, the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., was equally vulnerable and besieged with evacuees.

Venue director Greg Davis stressed that treating the tens of thousands of evacuees who came though his doors after Katrina as “residents” rather than “evacuees” was critical in creating a sense of community for those served.

Katrina was a wake-up call that natural disasters can happen anywhere, and venues should be in touch with local emergency services officers to create disaster preparedness plans if they don’t already have them.

According to Thornton, getting people inside during a disaster, getting them fed and cared for, then getting them back out are the three most crucial components of emergency situations like Katrina – and they aren’t as simple as they sound. Getting house rules out and creating a sense of community is important to maintaining order.

“Katrina was a tremendous human disaster,” Davis stressed. “The Cajundome got thousands of evacuees pouring in, while some communities were turning them away and cable news depicted these evacuees as looters, rapists, animals. Were we going to be driven by fear or compassion?

“We decided we were going to consider all the people on those buses to be friends unless they proved themselves otherwise,” Davis continued.

Thornton concurred that SMG was faced with the choices of “policies, procedures and bureaucracy versus humanity.”

Thornton and Davis agreed that Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and even the Red Cross weren’t always helpful, underscoring their belief that facility managers are in the best position to know how their buildings can be used in service to their communities.

King noted that Davis, Thornton and their staffs treated people with compassion “above and beyond the call of duty” and the industry as a whole had much to learn from their experience.

Thornton stressed the need for facility managers to know their emergency services contacts as well as city and state officials, be able to identify communication lines and have security arrangements ready.

Of course, clients are affected, too. Thornton recommended keeping a database of clients, contracts and assets on CD and in a safe place, and be able to reach out quickly to clients in case of cancellations or event postponements. He also advised facility managers to get out-of-state insurance pools and get private coverage if possible.

King announced that IAAM has put together a task force, with Davis as co-chair, to codify best practices guidelines for management of “mega-shelters.” Davis stressed that facility managers must have the ultimate authority over operations of their buildings during emergencies. And, not to put too fine a point on the importance of disaster preparedness plans in place, Davis pointed out that at the time of CIC, there were fewer than 100 days before the beginning of the 2006 hurricane season.