Hurricane Wilma; South Florida (2005) - Category 2-3 Hurricane (at landfall) that caused massive flooding, structural damage and power outages.  Nearly 90 people lost their lives.

At the time of the storm a corporate office for a national company operated out of multiple building campus in South Florida.

Several hundred employees and their families lived in the region.

A decision was made to shelter-in-place and 'ride out' the storm.  

Back-up power generators were activated once power was lost.

Some of the campus buildings were damaged and inaccessible for nearly 2-weeks.

Some of the campus buildings did not receive back-up power due to system failure.

All employees had issues including family emergencies, medical complications, etc.

The majority of employees lost their own homes during the storm.

Generators failed much sooner than expected because they were used for purposes beyond basic, life-safety needs.  Because power was out in the region, generator fuel could not be replenished due to gas pumps not working.

Adequate work/rest cycles were not enforced, adding to an already stressful environment.

The quality and effectiveness of employee care after a disaster plays a major part in determining the survivability and viability of your organization.

Redundancy of key resources is necessary but must also be exercised under real-world conditions.

"We can not recover FROM a disaster from WITHIN a disaster."

~Mike McKenna