Not all crisis are man made, though some question just how involved we are, especially regarding climate change. A potential crisis is developing near the Philippines right now. A typhoon, or hurricane as we call it in the States, is off the coast of the Philippine Islands headed projected to hit the Eastern Samar province, according to a report in the Associated Press.
About a year ago Hurricane Haiyan hit islands in the Philippines killing over 7,300 people. Hurricanes and other natural disasters are serious events and almost always result in a crisis when people are involved (not all storms are on land). People often times don’t take them seriously, and the same can be said about crisis.
There tends to be a different response to a crisis, especially when one just occurred. If BP has another oil spill you can bet they’ll be all over that one like bees to honey. Officials, businesses, and residents in the Philippines aren’t taking any risk this time around with a potential crisis looming over the horizon.
Though I’m not apart of the crisis management team, nor do I do any PR for the Philippine’s government, but you can see them using their, undoubtedly updated, crisis management plan. According to the AP report, thousands of people have been evacuated to safer areas, people are stocking up on durable goods, the military is working along with the government to prepare food, medicine, and shelter for people affected by the storm. Philippine President President Benigno Aquino III had a meeting yesterday with disaster response agencies to create steps to prevent panic among citizens. All things you would expect from a well planned, well created, well managed CMP.
My eyes, and prayers are with the Philippines. Every crisis presents an opportunity to learn steps which can prevent a situation from ever becoming one. That’s perhaps one of the most important things I learned this semester in PRCA 4332 Crisis Communication.
References:
http://news.yahoo.com/approaching-philippine-storm-brings-back-nightmare-063051855.html