Lessons About Preparedness From a Disaster that had National Impact

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​Experiencing a long-term disaster may help organizations recognize the importance of preparedness — and may motivate them to take action in the future. That's a primary lesson learned from the FEMA COVID-19 Impacts Survey of community-based organizations about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. FEMA fielded the survey in August 2021 and collected 532 responses from local businesses and community-based organizations, such as faith-based organizations and other non-governmental or charitable organizations. 

FEMA identified the following findings from the survey:

• The pandemic may have motivated respondents' organizations to prepare. 

• More than a year into the pandemic, nearly all (95%) respondents reported that, as a result of the pandemic, their organization was “likely" or “very likely" to take steps to prepare for future disasters and emergencies, including pandemics. 

• While only 14% reported that their organization was prepared before the pandemic began, by August 2021 45% of respondents reported that their organization was prepared for future pandemics. This increase in preparedness suggests that these organizations may recognize that preparedness may make a difference. 

 
The majority of organizations indicated that they had increased their focus on serving historically underserved communities. 

• Compared with organizations that don't focus on these communities, those that did were more likely to have taken preparedness steps before the pandemic began. 

• They were also more likely to take or continue taking steps after the start of the pandemic.
  

 
FEMA also saw a change in respondents' risk perception. 

• Before the pandemic, over three-quarters of respondents (77%) believed a disaster was “likely" or “very likely" to impact their organizations; however, before the pandemic began, only 38% of respondents indicated that they believed a pandemic would be “likely" or “very likely" to impact their organization. 

• After the COVID-19 pandemic began, organizations may have realized another pandemic could affect them in the future. When the survey was fielded in August 2021, 88% of respondents indicated it was “likely" or “very likely" that their organization would experience another pandemic in the future.
  

 
Organizations face barriers in preparing.

• Nearly three-quarters of respondents reported that their organization would experience barriers in preparing for a future disaster or pandemic. 

• Almost half said that cost was an obstacle, which was particularly true for nonprofit organizations 

• Compared to preparing for a pandemic, respondents more frequently indicated that lack of transportation and supplies was a barrier to preparing for a future disaster. 

• Respondents from for-profit organizations were more likely than those from nonprofit organizations to say they would be unable to prepare for a future pandemic or disaster because their organization had no time or because the organization was too busy or too new. 

 Cascading Community Impacts

The survey also provided a window into the cascading effects on communities when organizations are hit by disasters. Organizations reported that their communities experienced negative impacts and community ties were weakened when organizations closed, stopped or altered their services.
 The most commonly reported impacts for clients and customers were:

• Loss of access to regular social activities; and
• Inability to receive needed services.

The most commonly reported impacts for communities included:

• Mental distress due to social isolation or lack of advocacy and support; 
• Economic hardship; and
• Vulnerable communities experiencing additional difficulties in accessing needed services.

 
Opportunities for Preparedness Education

The preparedness community can use findings from this survey. The insights can help organizations and community members make tailored plans for how they can take low- and no-cost ways to prepare. Preparedness can make a difference. FEMA found that organizations that had not taken any steps to prepare before the pandemic reported that they were less recovered at the time the survey was fielded. 

If you work in preparedness or emergency management, consider using lessions from the pandemic to improve preparedness in your community. For example: 

• Use the pandemic as an example in your outreach to encourage organizations to prepare. 
• Highlight low- and no-cost preparedness actions that organizations can take, like FEMA's Organizations Preparing for Emergency Needs (OPEN) course, which can be taken online or in person. The course outlines 10 actions that can help organizations be ready for emergencies and keep their doors open.
• Talk with organizations in your community to learn about the barriers they face and how you can help them address these barriers. 
• Work with organizations to reduce the impacts that communities feel when organizations stop or alter services during an emergency.
• Find creative ways to reach your community. Organizaitons want additional information about preparing, according to the survey. Awareness about preparedness may inspire action.  

While the COVID-19 pandemc may no longer be a global emergency, its lessons can have an impact on how organizations respond to the next diaster.

This article first appeared in the monthly Individual and Community Preparedness Newsletter. Subscribe here.

Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events, entities, organizations, services, or products. Please let us know about other events and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included in future newsletters by contacting FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov

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