For Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts, having not only a culture of awareness but a corporate culture of caring helped it recover from the Indian Ocean tsunami. Immediately after the tsunami, "All of Starwood was out there doing everything they could to make sure guests and associates were safe," said Corporate communications Manager Hwee-Peng Yeo from her office in Singapore. "Communication and ensuring the safety of our associates and guests were our primary objectives during the crisis. Some of the associates' families and belongings were lost during the tsunami," said Yeo, who mentioned that the company tried to provide comfort and supplied basic necessities for associates and guests. Because of Starwood's solid business continuity program, it recovered from the minor damages within 36 hours and began helping to rebuild the community. "We are thankful that our Thailand properties, Phuket and Krabi, did not experience any structural damages," said Yeo. Individual hotels and resorts also checked in with beach vendors, combed the beach, cleared debris, and raised funds to rebuild fishing boats and beach-vendors' shacks. "With Starwood crew making sure we took care of guests, we most likely minimized any injuries," she said. "There is the worst-case scenario of someone suing for not taking care of guests who needed help. We are lucky that all of Starwood was there to make sure the guests were safe."

Training Triumphs

Bright spots amidst chaos are the stories of people who helped evacuate co-workers, beach-goers, and vacationing families to higher ground. Several associates at Starwood recalled their crisis training and were able to help visitors retreat to safety. "When the tsunami hit nobody expected it." said Yeo. "It was instant reaction to what happened. The first thing any of the staff thought about was to make sure that guests were okay and do everything they can to make sure nobody was hurt." After surveying his own flooded-out home, Sharunnizam "Nizam" bin Harun, a maintenance worker from the engineering department at Starwood's Sheraton Langkawi Resort in Malaysia, visited local Starwood staff and made a record of the damages to their homes and property. He presented his findings when Starwood senior management came to the school where survivors were gathered. Nizam helped to verify associates' loss claims and served as the link between associates and management. He was elected to the committee that receives donations, helping to distribute them among the community. "Always putting others ahead of himself, Nizam was the last to receive money or clothing that was handed out," said the resort's human resources director Raj Krishnan.  In the minutes before the tsunami hit, instinct and training paid off for Langkawi Resort Recreation Manager Maxwell According to tsunami expert Lori Dengler, tsunami education must be ongoing, updated, and continuously hammered home. "We need to assess what types of education programs are needed and what works and what doesn't work." Dengler recommends:

1. 1. Develop an evacuation procedure for sites in low-lying coastal areas in conjunction with county emergency services or Red Cross offices. Check with the local county office of emergency services for hazard maps. If there is no hazard information, areas above 100-foot elevation on the open coast and areas more than two miles inland on low lying land are safe. "If your business is located in a potential inundation zone, you need to develop a tsunami plan that addresses both a local and a distant source," says Lori Dengler.
2. Tap into NOAA and USGS real-time warnings:

• West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC): wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/message.shtml.
• U.S. Geological Survey (www.earthquake.usgs.gov/) shows maps of recent earthquake activity world-wide. If there is an earth quake it can be immediately checked to see if a tsunami may follow.

3. Use a NOAA weather radio with an alert system, which can be set to broadcast warnings for certain areas.

4. Investigate early warning systems.
5. Post warning zone signs and tsunami procedure pamphlets.
6. Educate. Possible media include: print, electronic or video materials.
7. Hold workshops and conduct training on procedure.
8. Make sure all staff in offices along the coast or who travel to coastal areas know the following basic information:

• If you feel an earthquake, get off the beach.
• If you hear that a tsunami warning has been issued, follow evacuation orders.
• If you see the ocean withdraw, get off the beach.
• If you hear a loud noise from the ocean, get off the beach.

The Emerging Threat of 2005

Amidst children building sandcastles and adults sipping cold drinks, Ross was preparing to take a group of guests island hopping when he noticed "the water level had receded about 50 meters and large white waves were approaching the beach."  Ross called for the boat operator to return to shore and alerted the general manager Bipan Kapur, saying that something was not right. He then radioed his recreation associates, Wan Zainuddin and Mohd Fakry and "calmly, so as not to create panic," evacuated the beach and Black Henry Cove.  Within five to 10 minutes of evacuating the guests to higher ground, the first of the four waves hit the shore. According to Ross, "The recreation team undoubtedly saved the lives of the guests with their quick and calm actions and as a result, the hotel had no injuries or deaths reported, and there was minimum loss of the resort's belongings."  The staff's composed, effective response was a combination of instinct and Starwood training. According to Yeo, "Crisis response training is done on a regular basis; it's really when something happens that training is tested." Starwood associates are trained to notify the rest of the staff when they sense danger.

"Those who lived by the beach, they know when there is a recession of the water something is happening. They were not sure how major it would be, but the instant reaction was to get everybody onto higher ground as fast as possible," she said.

What's Next?

Once local reconstruction was underway, keeping major stakeholders informed was  the next step. "We believe it's important  to communicate accurate information about the destinations and communities with customers, travel consultants, agents, associates, and the media," said Yeo. Because more customers are asking their travel agents about tsunami safety measures, Starwood created a compilation of guest diaries, property reports, and community projects from January 2005. They also invited travel agents to "view the hotels and resorts for themselves" to reassure potential guests and quell popular misconceptions.  In addition, "Starwood is working with local community and the ministry to put an early warning system in place, and three signal towers now serve as a warning system for Patong Beach in Phuket, south of the Thai mainland." The Thai government is planning to set up similar tsunami warning towers on other beaches on Phuket Island, and a tsunami warning system was implemented by local authorities and successfully tested in May 2005. Yeo also said that most hotels have signal warning systems that can be activated to alert guests in case of crisis. "We work closely with the community, the tourism ministry, and the government; it's crucial that these bodies work together to rebuild." 

U.S. at Risk

The threat of a tsunami in the United States received little media attention prior to the Indian Ocean disaster. After the tsunami, the U.S. made plans for a global tsunami warning system and designated $37.5 million to update the current Pacific warning system and install DART (Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) buoys in the Atlantic  by 2007. In the wake of the June 14 earthquake 100 miles off the coastline of Humboldt County, CA that generated a tsunami warning, it was nearly impossible to ignore media reports about possible failures in California's emergency warning system. Though the tsunami threat did not materialize, tsunami awareness has helped to increase government and corporate preparedness.  For areas along the Cascadia subduction zone, which runs about 700 miles along the Pacific Northwest coast, an earthquake could trigger a tsunami that would affect nearby shores within 20 to 40 minutes. Jay Wilson, Earthquake and Tsunami Programs Coordinator for Oregon Emergency Management, said businesses in his area that have posted.

Illustrating the importance of grassroots education, tsunami expert Lori Dengler spent two weeks with a tsunami survey team in the hardest hit areas of Sumatra and on Simuelue Island, the Indonesian Island closest to the quake's epicenter. "On the Sumatra coast we visited village after village that had been obliterated from the face of the earth. Survival rates in these coastal towns were typically less than 5 percent," she said. "The people were unaware of tsunami hazards and had no cultural linkage of earthquake ground shaking and tsunamis.

"In contrast, Simeulue Island lost fewer than 10 people to the tsunami event, though they had less time between the earthquake and the arrival of the first waves. Simuelue was struck by a tsunami in 1907 that killed more than 1,500 people. They have developed a cultural memory of the tsunami and what to do. They even have a word (smong) in the Simeulue language that means tsunami. Whenever they feel a strong earthquake, they head to high ground and stay there for days. They think nothing of false alarms, but consider it good practice," said Dengler. Educating businesses, residents, and school students will help ensure that in 50 years people will still remember tsunami warning signs and know how to react. "You can have the best tsunami warning system in the world," said Dengler "but without education it is useless. We should be putting as many resources into education as into warning technology. While almost every tsunami expert agrees that education is critical, we are still spending a fraction on education compared to technology." "I believe providing this information helps assure visitors that they can make an informed decision during an emergency and that the business is concerned for their clients' welfare," said Wilson "There is a hotel along the Oregon coast that has emphasized providing tsunami info for clientele; the manager has a very high standing in his business district and chamber of commerce."  Built on the beach and rising against the cliff side, The Inn at Spanish Head, Lincoln City, OR, includes tsunami-specific planning in its BCP. Resident manager Susan Burr and retired general manager Robert Eaton spent several years researching tsunamis and consulting geologist George Priest, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, to create a tsunami training program and an evacuation procedure.  After 12 years as resident manager at the three diamond, AAA hotel, Burr thinks that having readily available information and tsunami warning zone signs on the beach is more than just good business. "It's the right thing to do if you have a business on the coast." Now Burr and current general manager Matthew Foley are working to improve the inn's already comprehensive tsunami-specific BCP. The inn's current plan includes posted tsunami procedure, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios, tsunami training and the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) alert links on staff computers. "The Indian Ocean tsunami certainly heightened the urgency," said Burr, who noted that now some customers are asking about tsunami preparedness. "After the tsunami we prepared a two-page tsunami procedure sheet specific to the inn. After the June 14 earthquake off the Northern California coast and the tsunami warning it generated, we are speeding up the funding process to put our tsunami procedure brochure in every hotel room." The hotel is also working with local government agencies to place Lincoln City tsunami brochures in hotel rooms throughout the city.

The general economic effect of the Indian Ocean tsunami is difficult to gauge, however the gross domestic product of countries in the South Pacific remained relatively stable. With millions of dollars in damages to the hardest hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami, and an estimated $250 million to $400 million to put an early warning system into place, the overall economic effect was offset by the influx of international aid and investments. According to World Bank estimates, individual estimates for the hardest hit countries are: Sri Lanka, $1.5 billion; India, $1.2 billion; Thailand, $4.4 billion; Maldives, $100 million. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) reports that the overall economic impact at the macroeconomic level appears to be limited. The economic impact is more severe at the local level as the ADB reported that 2 million more Asians are living below the poverty level because of excessive damages caused by the tsunami. In Sumatra, the part of Indonesia most damaged by the tsunami and ravaged by recent earth- quakes, the destruction of the agriculture and fisheries sector resulted in an increase of more than 1 million people living in poverty. That leaves 18.7 percent of the population living below the poverty line. A study lead by Jose Borro, Ph.D., research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, estimated that the economic effects of a Southern California tsunami, including damage to households and businesses throughout the metropolitan ecocomy, could range from $7 billion to $40 billion. Lori Dengler estimates  the damage for a tsunami similar to the 1964 tsunami that hit California: "Just accounting for inflation, if the 1964 earthquake were to cause the same amount of damage as it did in 1964, losses would be about $3 billion throughout California, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska." She notes that since 1964 there are more people and higher value structures, however buildings are stronger and the U.S. has a more comprehensive warning system.

In 1964, reinforced concrete buildings did not suffer serious damage-almost all damaged buildings were wood frame structures that were not attached to foundations, Dengler said. "No one has attempted to quantify the relative effects these would have on losses. There is no question that a (large Cascadian zone earthquake) would cause much more damage and much higher losses than a repeat of the same sized earthquake in Alaska-the exposed population and infrastructure is much larger on the West Coast than in Alaska. While tsunamis are rare and estimating the cost is virtually impossible given the variables, a large quake along the Cascadian subduction zone could be "a five- state disaster-northern California, Oregon, and Washington would be affected by both strong ground shaking and a tsunami, and the rest of California, Hawaii and Alaska could be affected by the tsunami. I am sure such an event would affect the global economy." To mitigate possible effects in the event of a rare tsunami, President Bush committed $37.5 million to implement a revised NOAA proposal to put 32 Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys in place by mid-2007. According to the proposal, NOAA will receive $24 million and the U.S. Geological Survey will receive $13.5 million. In addition, USGS and the National Science Foundation areplanning to improve the seismic monitoring and information delivery from the Global Seismic Network. According to Admiral Conrad Lautenbaucher, "This will provide the United States with nearly 100 percent detection capability for a U.S. coastal tsunami allowing response within seconds."

Testing Is Essential

Burr said the warning "was a good thing for the Lincoln  City community and the Oregon Coast. It's given people an  opportunity to see what happened and where everyone could  improve." The Lincoln City, county, law enforcement, and private businesses are having a series of meetings to improve emergency communication. "This tsunami 'drill' made everyone more aware that this could really happen. ...It will allow all of us to prepare better and get a better warning system out to the local community." Community education is key, according to Richard Eisner, coastal regional administrator for the state Office of Emergency Services and head of the earthquake and tsunami program. "Tsunami education varies tremendously, and in communities where there is a culture of tsunami preparedness they do take it seriously. In Hawaii businesses are hyper aware and inform customers in phone books and distribute information in hotels to help keep visitors aware."  Is there a risk of scaring off customers by posting tsunami information near beach-front businesses or handing  out tsunami procedure pamphlets? "No," says Wilson. "For example, I've seen in North Carolina that there are coastal communities that have hurricane storm search signs. Despite the signs being prominently displayed, people still return to those areas for recreation. "Just like our tsunami signs on the West Coast, initially businesses were skeptical or suspicious that those signs may impact business districts," said Wilson. "Now, I'm getting a lot more interest in providing signs for business districts because it assures their visitors they can safely visit the coastline and know what to do."  Wilson observes that the Inn at Spanish Head was one of the first area businesses to put up city tsunami warning zone signs.  "I don't think tsunami education would scare guests away," said resident manager Burr. "Whatever information we can provide to our guests so they know what to do should translate to reduced anxiety and concern for them." In the Pacific Northwest, several hotels are involved with tsunami planning efforts. "Many hotels in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia are active in promoting tsunami awareness and appropriate behavior when an earthquake hits," said tsunami expert Lori Dengler,
Department of Geology, Humboldt State University. Crescent City, CA "has turned potential tsunami concerns around by bragging about their tsunami history." The community earned official Tsunami Ready status from the National Weather Service for its rigorous public education campaign, signs posted in hotels, tsunami information place mats in restaurants, and 1964 high water markers throughout the town. "Fire warning information never scared customers away, - quite the contrary. Customers feel much safer knowing there is a plan. "It would be great to get more hotels on the safety bandwagon," said Dengler, who was awarded the Richard H. Hagemeyer Tsunami Mitigation Award in 2002.

"Unfortunately, there are still a number that are concerned mentioning tsunamis may scare their customers. Others are concerned about legal ramifications. I hope one outcome of the Indonesian earthquake is a greater acceptance in the tourist industry of their responsibilities in reducing the risk for their guests."  Having evacuation plans and staff and customer education isn't enough. BCP managers and emergency notification officials across the board agree it is essential to put plans into practice, bring up back- up systems, go through mock emergencies and conduct simulations in conjunction with major suppliers and partners. "Testing raises awareness and clarifies responsibilities, said Ken  Otis, Associate Director Business Continuity Planning for Pfizer's Eastern U.S. Region. "Having tested plans limits downtime, enables leaders through training to maximize available resources and aids in setting recovery priorities to obtain the goal of minimizing an event's impact." Larry Swales, emergency services manager for public affairs at ExxonMobil, contends that BCP "has a half-life." The company mandates a minimum of one annual BCP test, but often conducts several. "If you don't at least go through the system annually you will forget so much that your plans won't be much use when the world goes pear shaped…you can't call a time out to dig though through well-planned manuals," said Swales. 

There is a growing awareness and level of preparation in U.S. coastal cities where tsunami risks are greatest.
TSUNAMI (TIDAL WAVE) SAFETY  RESULTING FROM A LOCAL EARTHQUAKE IF YOU FEEL A STRONG EARTHQUAKE WHICH LASTS 20 SECONDS OR MORE WHEN YOU ARE ON THE COAST:
DO NOT WAIT FOR AN OFFICIAL WARNING !!!
Protect yourself during the earthquake. Duck, cover and hold if inside and watch for falling objects until the earthquake is over. Move to higher ground immediately AND inland away from the coastline. In Crescent City move north of 9th Street. Gather your family members and evacuate quickly. Leave everything else behind. A tsunami may be coming within minutes. Go on foot if at all possible. Stay away from the coast. A later wave may be higher than the first! Damaging waves may continue to arrive even hours later.  Listen to radio for information. Wait until an official all clear signal has been given before returning to low-lying areas. A Tsunami is a series of sea waves most commonly caused by earthquakes beneath the sea floor. Tsunami waves travel at speeds of up to 600 miles per hour, and can cause great damage where they come ashore.

TSUNAMI (TIDAL WAVE) SAFETY  RESULTING FROM A DISTANT   EARTHQUAKE IF YOU HEAR THE WARNING SIREN OR A LOCAL  EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS) TSUNAMI ANNOUNCEMENT:
Never go to the coast to watch for a tsunami if you hear that a warning has been issued. Tsunamis move faster than a person can run. Incoming traffic hampers safe and timely evacuation of coastal areas.  Tsunamis are not surfable! They are not V-shaped or curling waves. Most frequently they come onshore as a rapidly-rising turbulent surge of water choked with debris. All tsunamis, like hurricanes, are potentially dangerous and life threatening, even though they may not damage every coastline they strike. An earthquake in your area is a natural tsunami warning. Do not stay in low-lying coastal areas after a strong earthquake has been felt. There is no time for authorities to issue a warning. 

DO NOT RETURN TO THE EVACUATION ZONE UNTIL YOU ARE OFFICIALLY NOTIFIED
Damaging tsunamis are very rare. Our coastlines are vulnerable but tsunamis are infrequent. Understand the hazard and learn how to protect yourself, but don't let the threat of tsunamis ruin your enjoyment of Del Norte County/Crescent City and it's beaches.

The quickness with which disasters can strike prompted several U.S. and multinational companies to not only tap NOAA and the West Coast / Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) via weather radios and real-time links, but also to diffuse confirmed warnings through early warning systems. The systems are slated to provide accurate, almost instantaneous notification simultaneously through cell phones, home phones, e-mail and pagers. Companies including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Pfizer, ExxonMobil, Kenyon International, and EarthLink utilize early warning systems.  Karen Abrams, director of risk management for EarthLink, said that their early warning system "was particularly useful during the hurricane season as it rapidly and reliably communicated vital information." Though critical for a well-developed BCP, emergency managers would caution that early warning services are only used to send out evacuation messages based on NOAA, WCATCW and local emergency notification offices to ensure they do not inadvertently send out false alarms.

The same multichannel approach is also being utilized by government offices, hospitals, and other public entities. Along with renewing public education campaigns and distributing tsunami pamphlets, Oregon emergency management workers, the sheriff's office, fire stations, and emergency responders are considering an e-mail and pager notification system. California officials are currently using Dialogic and are implementing a $300,000 upgrade that will enable the system to send multichannel notifications by October 2005. Companies utilizing early warning systems enhance their capacity to prevent the loss of revenue and most importantly, lives. Wilson cautions, however, that emergency officials remain the main source of information that is broadcast. "The final responsibility rests within local emergency official for the  welfare of their population. It is really important that they are directly involved in how that emergency notification is issued.

A tsunami that impacts the Oregon or California coastlines and affects the Oregon or California economy could have far reaching, indirect effects for businesses that rely on services or materials from Pacific Northwest from rail lines, trucking or information," he said.  Still, notification systems are only as good as the BCP carried out after the alarm sounds, and education about tsunamis plays a key role in that plan. "The real lesson here comes from the 10-year-old girl who learned about tsunamis in her geography class in England and was able to apply that during her vacation in Thailand in December. Just having a basic understanding, a little bit of information, helps people make  an informed decision during an emergency," said Wilson.  BCP managers and tsunami experts agree that forming a grassroots, company wide culture of awareness is the key to disaster prevention. "Detecting a tsunami is only part of the problem," said Reuters source Patricio Bernal,  head of the United Nations Oceanographic body working to upgrade an existing network of tidal gauges for an interim Indian Ocean warning system. "The big problem is how to prepare societies and local populations so they can act appropriately to a warning." Ken Otis, BCP manager for Pfizer Inc. maintains "Education and training is what it comes down to. The more education and the more training you have the more prepared you can be. Education is a key to preparedness." Wilson agrees that technology coupled with grassroots education is essential. He asserts that "The most cost-effective measures to prevent loss of life from locally produced tsunamis is mapping where the dangerous areas are and then implementing long-term, relentless public education campaigns aimed at developing the culture of awareness that educates people to leave these dangerous areas when they feel a large earthquake at the coast."
Kate DeBevois is a freelance journalist based in Pennsylvania.