Today was an interesting confluence of events. I was exchanging emails with an associate who is in the middle of getting a Master’s in Disaster Management and we were talking about scale and scope of disasters.

At about the same time I was monitoring email from one of my clients. The thread started out with a fairly minor report: Viewpoint Drive – Water Main Break. Not a huge, earth shattering disaster. Simply a notice that there was a waterline break in a nearby road and asked people if they noticed issues to let management know.

Within an hour there was a follow-up email stating that there was no longer adequate water pressure in the building and that folks should go home and finish their workday there. Furthermore, employees were told that for the next day the company was securing water bottles for drinking water and would be bringing in portable toilets.

Now, when people think about disasters, often they think about fires and other things that might destroy a building. But, that’s pretty rare.  It’s the other things that companies don’t necessarily plan for. Your company may have adequate backups of all its servers (but are you sure?) but does it have a plan for not having water?

I’ve worked with managers who have basically said, “eh, we can work around that.” Truth is, legally in most cases they can’t. If the building doesn’t have potable water and working sanitation facilities many municipalities won’t allow it to be occupied.

So does your company have a plan? Are the people who can authorize expenditures in on the loop? Who is going to declare a disaster and put the plan into motion? Who will sign for the porta-potties when they show up?  These are some of the things you have to think about.

So disasters about more than just a good set of backups. Sometimes it’s about the toilets. Think about that.