Communicating in Power Outages

How to creatively provide services in times of crisis

by Kara Irby, Florida League of Cities

Communicators rely heavily on social media to get out their message to residents and visitors in their community, but what’s the solution when social media sites are down and you can’t rely on a Facebook alert or a Twitter post?

After all, accuracy and efficiency are critical in times of crisis.

Those key concepts are not lost on Justin Shea, Cultural Facilities Events Supervisor for the City of Gulfport. He has also served in a public information role for the City and recommends having a main marketing platform to get your message out quickly across the most networks.

“Time is of the essence,” Shea said. “Connecting your outreach services outside of a crisis will help with communicating efficiently during an emergency.”

Constant Contact is the primary hub Shea uses for communicating with the residents of Gulfport. The City’s social media channels are all connected to their Constant Contact account so that information can be disseminated at one time through that platform. It’s sent out through an email newsletter and simultaneously posted on Facebook.

Shea was serving as the new Public Information Officer (PIO) for the City when a waterspout came onshore as a tornado and swept through the City during Tropical Storm Andrea.

“I was able to drive to City Hall,” Shea said. He saw that power lines were down and street signs were pulled out.

He knew it would be important to get information to the local television networks. Instead of holding a press conference, Shea drafted a press release with key information and hand-delivered it due to the proximity of the stations and the fact that signals may have been down immediately after the storm.

The message for Gulfport residents at the time was that Duke Energy was responding to the power outages, and everyone was encouraged to stay in their homes until they received word it was safe to leave.

Using the City’s website is also an important tool in the communicator’s toolkit in an emergency. If social media sites are down or glitching, a city’s website can be a key source of information.

“We have a special storm activation page on the City’s website that is on a completely separate server,” Shea said. “We constantly update it with need-toknow information in the time of crisis.”

Shea said having the appropriate equipment is also important in a power outage. Having backup batteries and a mobile hotspot proved invaluable. During Hurricane Irma, the City lost power for a week, which led city staff to submit a federal grant to upgrade the generators.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends municipal communicators have their “PIO Go-Kit” ready for an emergency. The go-kit includes contractual agreements with companies that will provide essential services in a crisis. Services such as closed captioning, the printing of emergency documents and translation services are just some of the agreements that should be in place to assist with public information operations.

Other items in your go-kit are more tangible. Office supplies, a laptop or tablet, a portable printer with an alternate power supply, maps, a battery-powered radio, your emergency operations plan and even your agency letterhead should be easily accessible if an emergency incident occurs and the power is out.

You can find more resources regarding emergency communication at fema.gov.

Kara Irby is a Communications Specialist at the Florida League of Cities.