When you think of a disaster that can impact your municipality, it’s easy to think of something rare and devastating on a mass scale. However, it’s important to define a disaster by its impact rather than its nature. Impacts can include
- organizational disruption and possible operational shutdown,
- an inability to serve residents, or
- destruction of IT systems and permanent data loss.
For example, ransomware often doesn’t come to mind when thinking about disasters. It’s not caused by nature, it’s all electronic, and it seems like it’s just an IT problem if it happens. Yet, the impact of ransomware or another serious cyberattack can wreak havoc as much as or more than a natural disaster — seriously affecting your operations and finances.
Or, did you know that flooding is the most common natural disaster that takes place in the United States, and major flooding events have increased during the last 10 years? In fact, 25% of flood insurance claims come from moderate- to low-risk areas — meaning a lack of past incidents are not predictors of future incidents. Such a common disaster can arrive out of nowhere, causing physical, operational and financial devastation.
Disaster recovery checklist
While disasters can take many forms, the way to recover from those disasters follows some predictable principles that you can apply now. Follow the checklist below to ensure that you can recover your data after a disaster and begin to help residents immediately.
Want to learn more? Read VC3’s full disaster recovery guide online.
Clark Cooper is the senior strategic advisor at VC3, the Municipal Association’s technology partner.