Preparing for emergencies in your HOA or condo: From wildfires to hurricanes

Whether you live in a high-rise condominium in Chicago, a homeowners association (HOA) in Houston, a master-planned community in California, or an active adult community in Las Vegas, emergencies can happen. Do you think your residents would know where to go or whom to contact in an emergency situation? Does your onsite staff know what to do to protect residents and the community’s property in the event of a major storm like a hurricane, tornado or severe blizzard? How well would they handle a flood, a wildfire or a violent outbreak?

Effective communication isn’t just about logistics—it’s about saving lives, minimizing property damage, and fostering trust during uncertain times. For HOAs and community leaders, this means keeping your residents, staff, and vendors fully equipped with a clear and actionable emergency plan. Read on to learn how a thoughtful approach to preparing for emergencies can set your HOA or condo up for success
 

Why community and HOA emergency plans are essential

The strongest emergency preparedness plan won’t be very effective if you haven’t communicated it to residents, if your staff isn’t properly trained or if vendors don’t know their role. Without a proper plan or communication, even the most well-conceived strategies can fall apart. Important questions, like “Who notifies residents of evacuation orders?” or “How do we coordinate vendor support during a disaster?” must be answered in advance.

Your property also could incur more damage than it would have otherwise, which could hurt the community’s financial wellbeing and impact property values. Additionally, insurance claims could be denied or your premiums could go up if untrained staff or vendors didn’t take appropriate steps, such as protecting windows before a hurricane or tarping damaged roofs after a tornado.
 

What to know about preparing for emergencies in your community or HOA

1. Understand your community’s risks

   It is important to assess common threats in your community. For those in wildfire-prone regions, regular droughts, dry conditions, and windy weather may heighten the risk. Partner with local fire departments or emergency management teams to map out potential hazards and evacuation zones
   
   Communities can also vary in their needs based on location, infrastructure, and demographics. For example, high-rise buildings demand specialized evacuation plans compared to communities with single-family homes. For communities with senior residents, communication methods may need to prioritize accessibility and clarity for an older audience.
   
   Tailoring your plan to your location’s unique risks will keep your community ready for challenges specific to the area.
    

2. Communicate about emergency preparedness all year long.

   An emergency communication plan should include various ways to distribute information to residents, staff, and vendors. Relying on just one method, like email, might leave gaps in outreach, especially if certain systems fail during emergencies. Reiterate your plan at regular intervals on your community website, in your newsletter, by email and during annual meetings. If your area is prone to seasonal storms, remind residents of your emergency preparedness plan and what they should do a month or so before the season begins.
   
   Timothy Snowden, executive director of high-rise operations at FirstService Residential in Philadelphia, points out that it is also important to communicate with residents prior to any highly publicized event that may have inherent risks.

   "When events such as the 2015 papal visit or the 2016 Democratic National Convention came to town, residents needed to know what was going on and what the board and the management team had done to prepare for it."
   
   Timothy Snowden

3. Have a system for communicating with residents during an emergency.

   When an actual emergency occurs, it is especially critical that your community have a reliable communication system in place, like FirstService Residential’s mass communication tool, Resident Alert^TM.

   "Our communities depend on Resident Alert to ensure that everyone receives all important information and knows what action to take."
   
   FirstService Residential Director of Management, Alex Taylor

   Snowden explains that power loss and downed phone lines can be challenges to communication, so he recommends keeping an emergency generator for powering office equipment. However, he explains, “You may need to go back to the basics. You may need to hand out flyers door to door if there’s no power and you need to reach people. That’s the difficulty in the modern world in which we rely on electricity.”
   
   The goal is to make sure no one is left uninformed because of power outages or downed phone lines.
    

4. Clarify roles and responsibilities

   An emergency communication plan won't succeed without assigning clear roles to those responsible for carrying out each action. Knowing who should lead specific tasks removes confusion and streamlines the community’s response.
   
   Develop a team that involves HOA board members, property management staff, and volunteers. Their responsibilities might include tasks like:
    
   • Contacting residents with updates.
      
   • Coordinating with government agencies or emergency responders.
      
   • Overseeing operations to secure common areas or arrange post-emergency repairs.
   
   For larger communities, having an emergency committee dedicated to managing communication and logistics is a valuable asset. A well-trained team creates stability during crises and reassures residents they are being supported.
    

5. Make sure that onsite staff is well trained.

   Preparation via scheduled reminders and drills is critical to making sure that your onsite staff is ready to face whatever emergencies may arise. Of course, if you work with a professional property management company, it will be the responsibility of the management company to keep staff properly trained. Examples of training you or your property management company should provide include:
    
   • Storm preparation drills prior to the beginning of storm season
      
   • Drills to know what to do during a natural disaster that may be prevalent in your area, such as a wildfires or flooding
      
   • Active shooter drills
      
   • How to stock emergency supplies
   
   Edwin Lugo, vice president of the south Florida high-rise division for FirstService Residential, also recommends working with your county, city or local emergency management teams. They will know what kind of disasters are most common in your area (for example, tornadoes in Kansas and Missouri, hurricanes in Florida and Texas and earthquakes in California) and how to prepare for them.
   
   In addition, local emergency management will be able to tell you if your community is in a mandatory evacuation zone, inform you of your risk for flooding and provide other hyperlocal information that will help your association board and onsite staff keep your community safe. Emergency management offices can often provide information about conducting drills and training as well. Lugo also suggests working with neighboring association boards to share best practices and knowledge.
   
   Your management company may be able to offer emergency training to your board members, too.

   "We recently provided an active shooter training and fire evacuation training for our associates. We extended an invitation to our board members because emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime. It’s important that board members are appropriately trained so they’re able to execute an emergency plan as well."
   
   Maurice Talley, corporate trainer for FirstService Residential

6. Don’t forget your vendors.

   Your trusted vendors need to know what you expect of them before, during and after an emergency. Conversely, your board needs to be aware of what your vendors are capable of and what resources they have available to keep your community safe. Discuss your emergency expectations with your vendors, and plan to meet with landscapers, roofers and other contractors prior to storm season.
    

7. Post-emergency communication and recovery

   After the immediate danger has passed, clear communication becomes especially critical. Residents will want updates on repair schedules, safety assessments, and any changes in operations around the community. Post-emergency communication also lays the groundwork for rebuilding trust and momentum.
   
   Key post-emergency tasks include the following:
    
   • Assessing damage and sharing the results, including next steps for recovery.
      
   • Working closely with insurance providers to expedite claims and document repair needs.
      
   • Encouraging resident feedback to learn how the community can improve responsiveness in the future.
   
   Recovery isn’t just about physical repairs—it’s also about reestablishing a sense of security and connectedness within the community.

Wildfires pose a unique challenge

If your community is in an area prone to wildfires, like California or western Canada, it is wise to develop an emergency communication plan. This can leverage multiple channels including community websites and emails. Boards and property managers should work closely with local emergency management teams to understand wildfire risks in the area. The community should establish a communication system and make sure that onsite staff receives training on a standard operating procedure for wildfires.

During a wildfire, the focus should be on executing the established emergency communication plan to make sure all residents receive timely information and know what actions to take. Communities need backup communication methods since power loss can affect modern systems – this might mean reverting to basic methods like door-to-door notifications if necessary. The onsite staff should follow their emergency training protocols, coordinating with local emergency management teams and implementing predetermined safety measures.

The increased risk in wildfires throughout California has seen a significant increase in the number of communities designated as being in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, according to CAL FIRE. This has prompted many local authorities such as the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) expand community maintenance requirements, including fuel modification inspections. This has placed additional financial burdens on HOAs and created a need to explore all options including seeking grants. In one example, FirstService Residential’s management team worked with the board at Foothill Ranch Maintenance Corporation, a 2,791 home community located in Lake Forest, and was awarded a $25,000 Fire-Safe Community Grant through California Fire Safe Council (CFSC). The funds were used for fire prevention initiatives for the community, including a dedicated fuel modification crew to maintain the property on a monthly basis.

To prepare for a wildfire evacuation, property managers and boards should incorporate evacuation protocols into their year-round emergency preparedness plans. Property managers should work with local emergency management teams to identify evacuation zones and routes, and maintain an updated system for communicating evacuation orders.
 

In conclusion

Preparing for emergencies in your HOA or condo is essential. Your community needs to have an actionable emergency preparedness plan in place, and that plan must be communicated effectively with proper training for all roles in it. This will minimize your association’s risk and increase resident safety, as well as maintaining the financial health of the community.

Contact FirstService Residential, North America’s leading property management company, to learn how we can support your commuity in emergencies today.