5 Steps to Rebuilding a Community After Hurricane Nicole

As many homeowners are quickly discovering with hurricane Nicole’s impending arrival, it doesn’t always matter what kind of preparation your community makes before a powerful hurricane strikes. The effects can still be devastating – even after the storm loses strength.
 
No matter where you live, the aftermath of a hurricane can significantly damage your community both physically and financially. Rebuilding a community after a hurricane can be expensive, sometimes ranging into the millions of dollars. Many communities may also have to deal with environmental threats ranging from contaminated air and drinking water to excessive mold.
 
If you are on the board of any community association likely to be impacted by hurricane Nicole, you have a tremendous job ahead of you. Your neighbors are counting on you to get your community functioning normally again. But where do you even begin once the storm is over, and the flood waters recede?
 
Prioritizing the work ahead is crucial to the recovery of your community. Rebuilding a community after a hurricane may take a long time, and it can all seem overwhelming. If you’re working with an experienced property management company, rest assured that you’re in capable hands.
 
Your management team should have the resources and the best practices already in place to assess the damage, file insurance claims, help you obtain needed financing and make repairs during the aftermath of a hurricane. By streamlining the recovery process, your management team will have residents back to a normal way of life as quickly as possible. Below are five helpful steps to consider as you work with your management company to pull together resources and address the most important aspects of rebuilding a community. 
 

1.  Establish communication with residents.

Disorganization and confusion can be expected from hurricane Nicole, especially if residents have been displaced or evacuated. Needed services may be functioning sporadically, or they may go completely down. Having a communication plan in place can make a huge difference during this difficult time. Your management company should communicate with the board regularly to keep you informed and assist in alerting residents of essential updates.

Hopefully, your community has a resident alert system that can be used during the storm. If not, plan to get such a system in place soon. It will enable the board or your community manager to quickly send out alerts to all residents in your community by automated phone calls or texts. Use the system in the aftermath of a hurricane to keep residents informed.

Post notices throughout your building or community to keep residents in the loop. Include warnings (for example, if drinking water needs to be boiled), describe the immediate actions that your board and the management company are taking, and provide any other instructions residents should follow. Once electricity, internet, and other services are up and running, take advantage of digital communications – email updates, website notifications, and online newsletters, among others – to get information out quickly.
 

2.  Handle the most pressing issues quickly. 

You or your management company should already have good relationships with contractors who can remove debris, pump water and repair immediate hazards. To mitigate the extent of any damage, these issues need to be addressed as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Have your maintenance or engineering specialists assess the damage at your property as soon as it is safe to do so, then obtain estimates from your vendors for the most critical work. Be sure to have someone onsite to oversee the work when it begins. 
 

3.  Contact insurance and get the work started.

If your board has been well advised, you should have the insurance coverage you need to pay for storm-related repairs. Flooding, however, is one of those natural disasters that may be an exception. Suppose you have damages not covered by insurance or want to get started quickly. In that case, your community management company should be able to connect you with short-term emergency financing to begin repairs while waiting for insurance funds to be realized. FEMA and SBA loans are also available to homeowner associations, so be sure to explore those resources.
 
Again, strong relationships go a long way toward getting your community prioritized, especially since adjustors will have a massive number of claims in your area. You can assist your community manager by taking photos and documenting damage information. This will make the process as accurate and efficient as possible. With the correct information, your community manager can ensure your claims are filed promptly and correctly and work with the adjuster to ensure that your property receives the most favorable settlement possible.
 
Before beginning repairs to your property, be sure to review your governing documents. Most state laws and community declaratory documents dictate the process that must be followed to contract for remediation and rebuilding, as well as the allocation of insurance proceeds or other short-term financing needed to fund these activities. To be safe, check with your association attorney and discuss the process with your community manager.
 

4.  Get the help you need. 

With everything that has to get done – managing onsite workers, making phone calls to providers, locating and securing needed financing, establishing schedules, and photographing damage – it can be too much for just a few board members to handle. Don’t take on all the work yourselves. Remember that “many hands make light work.”
 
Lean on your management company, which should have a depth of resources to ensure the right contractors are hired, stay engaged, and complete the work quickly. Larger management companies with regional and national reach can provide added benefits, such as offering additional support services to the local team, who may also have been affected by the storm. Help with essential functions such as community finances and architectural requests and simply helping to maintain business as usual can make all the difference for your association.

It’s also ok to request that committee members or someone from your management team be available to answer questions, communicate the progress and help with smaller community challenges. Having everyone pitching in will go a long way in helping your community feel whole again.
 

5.  Follow up.

After the work is done, document everything with “after” photos. Work with your management team to ensure that your community has received all the insurance payments you are entitled to and that contractors and vendors have been paid appropriately. 
 
Now that the community is fully restored, you’ll want to share the good news with your residents. A final communication with photos and maybe even a reopening party for amenities would be a great way to get residents excited about the renovations.
 
At FirstService Residential, we are dedicated to doing everything we can to help the communities we manage. We will remain proactive in assisting our clients every step of the way through hurricane Nicole.
For further information on maintaining communications with your community throughout hurricane Nicole, visit our article The 5 Keys to Communicating Before, During, and After Hurricane Nicole.