Planning in an Era of Natural DisastersHurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria made big headlines in 2017. What is it like to be planning and running events in communities with such natural disasters? Find out and learn how to prepare.If you’ve been in the wedding industry for more than a moment, you know that natural disasters are major threats to your event business. This wedding season, in particular, has been marked by catastrophes completely outside of our control. The wildfires in Napa, flooded streets of Houston, and hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico, among others, couldn’t be predicted with enough accuracy to allow couples to avoid them completely. However, seasoned wedding pros and even well-prepared newcomers can take early actions to mitigate the damage and minimize the impact of future crises like these on their couples’ big days. What’s the impact?The impact of natural disasters on the wedding industry can range from minor irritations to total upheaval. On the “manageable” side, outdoor events may need to be moved indoors during hurricanes or lightning strikes, or completely relocated to a nearby venue or town if an area has lost power and generators are unavailable or impractical.Often, extreme weather is a considerable inconvenience to out-of-town guests who may not be able to travel to an area when airports or roads are closed. This effect is magnified by true, disaster-level interference when even a couple may not be able to reach their wedding destination.Of course, situations like the hurricanes that decimated Puerto Rico this year are far worse than inconveniences. Whole communities are lost, and after the initial human impact is addressed, there are real consequences that follow to the businesses in that region. Resorts that relied on the destination wedding industry have had to close, leaving employees without livelihoods—and clients potentially without a venue and possible financial losses if deposits can’t be returned or tickets remain non-refundable. How you help manage the situation can have a real impact on your bottom line.The effect in real life situationsEmily Sullivan, Emily Sullivan Events, New Orleans, most frequently faces the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms. “A good percentage of my events are associated with indoor/outdoor space, so many times being prepared involves moving the ceremony location and coming up with a backup plan. Recently, however, we were faced with a city curfew, which meant that all of our events had to be moved to earlier times,” says Sullivan. For multiple events, she and her team had to coordinate the logistics of rescheduling all vendors and notifying both clients and guests about the changes to ensure that everything ultimately ran smoothly.Lisa Anhaiser, owner of LBL Event Rentals in Houston, Texas, encountered a situation that is generally unique to weddings when her bride simply refused to believe that a severe weather situation was a threat. “The closer we got to the wedding, the more obstinate the bride became,” says Anhaiser. She attempted to reason with her client, and required the couple to accept full financial responsibility and liability if the safety of her team was jeopardized. The couple ultimately decided to marry at home. On the wedding day, Hurricane Ike caused billions of dollars worth of damage to the Houston area and nearly wiped out nearby Galveston.Claudia De Velasco, owner of Houston-based A Day to Remember, recently had a client whose venue ended up completely underwater after Hurricane Harvey—with only a two-and-a-half month lead time until the event. “We moved quickly to get our couple into another venue of equal or greater quality,” says De Velasco. Another of her Harvey-timed weddings had delivery issues over a week after the hurricane passed, but “we pulled through, almost seamlessly,” she adds.Always have a backup planThe first line of defense against the impact of natural disasters is a solid Plan B. As you monitor conditions, make sure that you have every aspect of an alternative plan mapped out, and be prepared to communicate changes to every vendor, client, and guest, so no one is left out of the loop.Sari Skalnik, MWP™, and owner of Tropical Weddings in Puerto Rico, recently faced two Category 5 hurricanes within two weeks of each other. “Communication with our couples was key,” says Skalnik. “We spoke with couples prior to and after Hurricane Irma. Before Hurricane Maria, we reached out to each couple to let them know that we would be in touch as soon as we could after the storm. Little did we know that it would take us three weeks to begin to contact our couples again. Thankfully, because we had spoken with all of them prior to the storm, most were just concerned for our well being and had no plans to cancel their events (although some did).”Anticipate lingering effectsMany of our pros experienced psychologically driven consumer effects long after their region’s major disaster. They cited couples' fears of committing too early to a wedding date, hoping to wait until weather predictions could be made more accurately. Susan Southerland, president of Just Events! Group in Florida, says she “definitely notices a reduction in bookings the first year after a hurricane. After the one-year anniversary, things tend to go back to normal. We also notice that we get a lot more questions about our contingency plans in case of a hurricane.”The upside of downtimesNot everything that comes out of adversity is bad. Many industry pros have faced great challenges only to find that they are part of a strong, supportive global community. Sullivan, for example, saw a bright side after one of the worst recent natural disasters to hit New Orleans. “Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans saw a great wedding boom from people who really wanted to celebrate our city and give back to our economy.” Not a bad takeaway for an industry made possible by love!__Meghan Ely, OFD Consulting, Richmond, Va.