Western Michigan University
A Tornado’s Aftermath TH E D I SASTE R : In the spring of 2011, a tornado swept through Louisville, affecting the campus of Sullivan University.
I M PACT O N TH E CAM P U S AND D I NI NG S E RV I CE S : The Louisville tornado happened late in the evening over the weekend. The storm took out power on campus, damaged buildings, and a tree fell on one of our shuttle buses. Fortunately, the student housing division wasn’t in the tornado’s path. As a result of the power outage, our gourmet restaurants— Winston’s and Julep’s—were shut down for the evening and the catering operations were moved to another facility so we could continue to operate. These two units were closed for less than 24 hours. We have a phenomenal maintenance crew that was on site within 45 minutes to cut down trees using heavy machinery. There is not a lot of bureaucracy to deal with, since we are a smaller university.
I M P L E M E NTI NG TH E CR I S I S M ANAG E M E NT P L AN: The first thing we did is operate off of a Dean System, an electronic notification that goes out to executives and senior management on their phones. This updated us on weather from the National Weather Service. Then we started determining our plan of action and structuring food. We also notified students about what was happening, letting them know if we needed to shut down. In this case, we tracked the storm system to determine if we needed to feed students in the lower levels of our housing developments. We made sure to
Collaboration is key. Efficient and effective communication is important, and one person is needed to take charge and orchestrate the situation. You don’t need a lot of people chiming in at the beginning. In the last disaster, I happened to be here so I orchestrated the plan. We carry $700,000 worth of food inventory, so it is important to keep that out of the danger zone. Also, it’s important to get on a phone chain list to contact vendors. By doing this, within 90 minutes we had refrigerated and freezer trucks to store our perishable food. It took just two hours to relocate this food after mobilizing everything.
PLANNING
Director of Dining Services
L E SS O NS L E ARNE D:
CRISIS
—Judy Gipper
assess problems and quickly determined what we needed to do to get rolling. The team was then assembled and a plan was put in place. We were very efficient, tactical, and strategic.
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ADV I CE : Be clear, strategic, and tactical. Make sure students and food are released into a secure environment following the disaster. Everyone needs to be kept fed and hydrated until the lights are back on. Computers and alarms need to be reset. I was incredibly proud of my staff. I have 165 employees who report to me and 18 executive chefs. Everyone pulled together, understanding the severity of the situation and what needed to be done. Our job as leaders and educators is to provide everyone with clear and concise direction. —Scott Stromer Director of Food and Beverage Operations Sullivan University
C A M P U S D I N I N G TO DAY
and programmed into your cell phone and laptop. Take the time to write a detailed afteraction report. This provides reflection on what decisions were good and what was unnecessary.