05. September 2006
Prepared for autumn storms?
A recently broadcast German TV drama entitled "Tornado – Wrath of Heaven" showed the course that events could take if a storm of unprecedented ferocity threatened to devastate Germany’s capital of Berlin. But what seems to be mere lurid fiction promising an evening’s entertainment may not be far from the truth.
While there is still no scientific proof that the future will see a rise in the number of serious tornados in Germany, initial indications are that this could be the case. A tornado or strong hurricane with windspeeds of 160 to 200 km/h or a storm tide along the coast can cause billions of euros of damage in no time; major injuries, damage to property and industrial plants, power cuts – the list is almost endless. The following case shows how companies and public authorities can prepare for major natural catastrophes today.
Preparation, not hindsight
On 27 March 2006, a tornado caused extensive damage in Hamburg. Although the storm raged for less than thirty seconds, the results were catastrophic. To the south of the city the whirlwind caused hour-long power cuts affecting up to 300,000 people. Two people were killed and two more injured. Lightning strikes caused all southbound rail traffic to be blocked for hours. (Source: n-tv)
Although companies and public authorities cannot protect themselves directly from the damage caused by natural catastrophes, the right preparation can enable them to provide rapid assistance in emergencies and minimize damage. With FACT24, companies were able to respond as follows to the March 2006 tornado in Hamburg:
- Hamburg Fire Brigade: When major emergencies occur outside the scope of standard fire brigade operations, Hamburg Fire Brigade must be able to mobilize hundreds of in-house and external emergency personnel as rapidly as possible. In addition to their emergency radio service, they rely on FACT24 Notification and Conferencing Service. As soon as the tornado of 27 March 2006 was officially classified as a major disaster, a series of alarms was triggered recruiting additional emergency and specialist personnel to reinforce the regular teams on duty. At the same time, the responsible members of the command and section staff were informed of the situation within moments. Contacting this enormous number of personnel individually or by the “snowball” method would have taken several hours.
- DaimlerChrysler AG Werk Hamburg: After notification of damage to the Hamburg site was received, the task force and standby teams of DaimlerChrysler plant fire brigade were simultaneously informed in parallel and mobilized for their mission at the site.
- Vattenfall Europe AG & Co. KG Hamburg: FACT24, the hardware and software-independent notification service, was employed to supply information on the power outages to a range of specialist staff and to communicate instructions. The company was thus able to respond ultra-rapidly to the damage caused to the power supply system.
“Disaster missions cannot be planned, but they can be prepared for by applying professional solutions. This is where FACT24 Notification and Conferencing Service is the ideal support“, states Christian Götz, co-CEO of F24 AG, explaining the services his company offers. “We have gained extensive practical experience from the wide range of emergency and crisis situations that our now lengthy list of customers have reported. This enables us to assist potential customers in developing key crisis scenarios for their areas of operation, and to support them by providing tailored crisis and business continuity management.“
While there is still no scientific proof that the future will see a rise in the number of serious tornados in Germany, initial indications are that this could be the case. A tornado or strong hurricane with windspeeds of 160 to 200 km/h or a storm tide along the coast can cause billions of euros of damage in no time; major injuries, damage to property and industrial plants, power cuts – the list is almost endless. The following case shows how companies and public authorities can prepare for major natural catastrophes today.
Preparation, not hindsight
On 27 March 2006, a tornado caused extensive damage in Hamburg. Although the storm raged for less than thirty seconds, the results were catastrophic. To the south of the city the whirlwind caused hour-long power cuts affecting up to 300,000 people. Two people were killed and two more injured. Lightning strikes caused all southbound rail traffic to be blocked for hours. (Source: n-tv)
Although companies and public authorities cannot protect themselves directly from the damage caused by natural catastrophes, the right preparation can enable them to provide rapid assistance in emergencies and minimize damage. With FACT24, companies were able to respond as follows to the March 2006 tornado in Hamburg:
- Hamburg Fire Brigade: When major emergencies occur outside the scope of standard fire brigade operations, Hamburg Fire Brigade must be able to mobilize hundreds of in-house and external emergency personnel as rapidly as possible. In addition to their emergency radio service, they rely on FACT24 Notification and Conferencing Service. As soon as the tornado of 27 March 2006 was officially classified as a major disaster, a series of alarms was triggered recruiting additional emergency and specialist personnel to reinforce the regular teams on duty. At the same time, the responsible members of the command and section staff were informed of the situation within moments. Contacting this enormous number of personnel individually or by the “snowball” method would have taken several hours.
- DaimlerChrysler AG Werk Hamburg: After notification of damage to the Hamburg site was received, the task force and standby teams of DaimlerChrysler plant fire brigade were simultaneously informed in parallel and mobilized for their mission at the site.
- Vattenfall Europe AG & Co. KG Hamburg: FACT24, the hardware and software-independent notification service, was employed to supply information on the power outages to a range of specialist staff and to communicate instructions. The company was thus able to respond ultra-rapidly to the damage caused to the power supply system.
“Disaster missions cannot be planned, but they can be prepared for by applying professional solutions. This is where FACT24 Notification and Conferencing Service is the ideal support“, states Christian Götz, co-CEO of F24 AG, explaining the services his company offers. “We have gained extensive practical experience from the wide range of emergency and crisis situations that our now lengthy list of customers have reported. This enables us to assist potential customers in developing key crisis scenarios for their areas of operation, and to support them by providing tailored crisis and business continuity management.“
