(25e) Preparing for Self-Sufficiency

The City of New Orleans' infrastructure was paralyzed due to the disasters of Hurricanes Katrina (August 29th) and Rita (September 24th) in 2005. New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) maintained a presence post-disaster despite massive losses to their departments and equipment.

The city infrastructure which Procter & Gamble (P&G) relied on for support was eliminated in these losses. Instead of a normal fire department response time of 3 to 5 minutes, adequate city water pressure, phone lines for automatic alarm dialing, and 911 services, P&G was faced with critical risk control issues. Additionally, lack of housing in the area, necessitated on site housing for employees which included approximately 135 trailers and support infrastructure.

P&G minimized risk to its people, property and profits by becoming self-sufficient for services. This was accomplished by providing on site trained personnel to supplement services lost following the hurricanes.