A weather disturbance as serious as a hurricane is beyond anyone’s control. It can develop anytime, anywhere, and it can thus affect even long-term plans. So what exactly can you do when a hurricane is forecast to hit on your event day? Here are some helpful tips to guide you when your plans have been upended as they are.
- Stay Updated
Hurricanes are very unpredictable. They can switch directions up to the very last minute. What you can do is to follow the government-run hurricane tracker at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/. They give hurricane updates every so often. It is important to be updated since you will base your decision to postpone or cancel the event on the information that you get.
- Be On Top of Things
When a hurricane is forecast to hit on your event day, you need to take a step back, assess the situation, and talk it over with your planning team. There are several questions that you can ask:
- Do contracts include cancellation or postponement due to natural calamities like hurricanes?
- Is your venue hurricane-proof?
- Will guests even bother going to your event in the midst of a hurricane?
- Do the risks outweigh the cost of a postponement or a cancellation?
- What are the effects of postponing or cancelling the event altogether?
These are some important questions to go over with the team so you can have a better view of the situation. After discussing these among other salient points, you can then decide whether you would go as planned or not.
- Meet Key People
There are many people that you should sit down with in the unlikely event that a hurricane is forecast to hit on your event day. Some of them will include the following:
- Your clients, if you are an event organizer
Inform them about the concern at hand and let them ultimately decide whether they want to push through with the event despite the hurricane. Do not be passive. Share your thoughts regarding the matter but let them make the final decision.
- Vendors you entered into contracts with for certain services
There might be a need to review your contracts. If there is no clause that says anything about cancellation due to natural calamities like a hurricane, they might agree to either postponing the event or allow a minimal fee for cancellation.
Check their availability in case of a postponement. This is especially important when it comes to hotel or conference room bookings.
- Very important guests
You have to explain that you might postpone or cancel the event due to the hurricane. Given the circumstances, it is most certain that they will understand. You can also check their availability in case you will push through with the event at a later date.
Just because a hurricane is forecast to hit on your event day does not mean your plans have been completely ruined. Follow this course of action to stay on top of things. Make sure to be constantly a step ahead so that you can gracefully work towards a postponement, or a cancellation, if the situation merits it.
Written by bleu events, one of the top event planners Columbia, MO has to offer.
