Crisis Communications Lesson From Hurricane Sandy

Crisis communications and social media executives may be interested in a recent New York Times story that contrasts how two government organizations used social media during a disaster to communicate with their publics.  One boosted its communications; the other apparently minimized or failed to engage in them actively enough, suggests the story "Social Media Strategy Was Crucial as Transit Agencies Coped With Hurricane."

The disaster was Hurricane Sandy, and the two entities were the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority's Long Island Rail Road (L.I.R.R.) and--across the Hudson River from Manhattan--New Jersey Transit.  The former runs commuter trains connecting communities throughout Long Island, including Brooklyn and Queens, with Manhattan.  The latter runs commuter, light rail and bus systems, with operations in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York State.  The former upped its communications; the latter, apparently, did not.

See below to find which of the two agencies scored better with the public.

Keeping the public informed-and frequently-during a crisis is applicable not just to large, government authorities but to smaller, private organizations as well.  A tennis club with hundreds of members in the New York suburbs, badly damaged by Sandy, serves as a second case in point.  After the storm caused the facility to depressurize its tennis bubbles and flooded its clubhouse, its customers--including those who had booked seasonal court time and others who had prepaid for tennis lessons-fretted about whether they would get back the money they had paid many months in advance. They also wondered whether or not the facility had the financial resources to re-open and whether they now needed to find a new club at which to play. 

It took almost three weeks after the disaster before the facility's management  emailed members to assure them that they would receive refunds for missed time and, in subsequent emails, to set a specific target date for re-opening.  These emails also described the damage and the steps management had needed to take to assess the damage, plus the steps management would have to take before the club house and courts would be restored.  The description helped give the members some understanding of the extent of the problem and most likely built some sympathy for management.  However, after this flurry of emails, management again fell silent, leaving members again to wonder what was happening and whether management's timetable was being met.  Then as if to rub salt in sore wounds, members began receiving emails from another club suggesting that they should consider playing there and offering free court time the first time they played. 

"If there is one lesson transit officials have learned from Hurricane Sandy," says The Times' report, "it is that in the Internet era, keeping riders up to date is just as important as tracks and rolling stock."

That same lesson applies to private organizations, as well.  Disaster opens the door to the competition.  Lack of communication during the crisis and its aftermath opens it even wider. 

-- Jeff Bogart