Deb Hale has a nice BCP/DR story to tell over at the ISC Diary page in regards to this summer’s Missouri River flooding. This hits a little closer to home (pun intended) since I’m from Sioux City and my parents currently reside in the Dakota Dunes (they’ve been lucky).

While at first glance a natural disaster isn’t always a foremost thought in the minds of information security, it certainly is part of a wholistic security view. And is one of the few scopes that pretty much any manager or executive can relate to and have ideas about, especially since managing people in the face of a disaster is a key problem. While light on details of what you can do to enhance your business continuation plans, it does illustrate the impact such events have on the community and may have on your business, both short term and long term.

I’d just like to add 2 things to the discussion. Keep abreast of area disaster possibilities. You don’t want to find out too late that a flood is going to happen in your area. Some events are quick (tornado), but others are not. And when you do hear about an incident, don’t drag feet when making preparatory or reactive actions. The sooner you act, the better off you are. This is also one place where community, in-person networking will always trump your digital network and internet social ties.