(TLP:CLEAR) Implementing Effective Crisis Communications for Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies

Summary: Last month, Security Management Magazine published a series of articles offering guidance to help organizations strengthen their crisis communications. For water and wastewater utilities, when disaster strikes, clearly communicating the situation and its consequences to customers and response partners is critical for response and recovery efforts.

Analyst Note: Crisis communication plans and procedures should be clearly documented and exercised before a crisis occurs. Poor communications from critical infrastructure entities during disasters can lead to the spread of dis/misinformation, which can exacerbate operational impacts and further imperil public safety. For example, in 2024, during a winter weather event, a false social media post about a possible water outage prompted people to quickly fill their bathtubs, which caused a drop in pressure that temporarily disrupted services. In this incident, early crisis communications could have potentially mitigated some of the operational impacts.

Towards that end, Security Management Magazine’s six articles on crisis communications detail various aspects for organizations to consider. The six articles are listed below:

• The Right Message: Aligning Communication, Relationships, and Timing During Crises
• Why ‘Never Go Off Script’ Is Advice for Amateurs
• Why Corporate Security Influence Expands in Crisis and Contracts in Routine Operations
• Without Alignment, Crisis Messaging Fails Before the Crisis Begins
• How to Maintain Stakeholder Trust in the Early Phases of a Crisis
• The Readiness Gap: Why Organizations That Test the Plan Still Struggle in Crisis

EPA also has several resources on crisis communications for water and wastewater utilities. In addition, to help counter dis/misinformation in disasters and emergencies DHS released a guide on the topic a few years ago, detailing the problem and offering mitigation recommendations. The guide states, “rumors, misinformation and false information on social media proliferate before, during and after disasters and emergencies.” Lastly, researchers in Australia found that besides just conducting crisis communications, infrastructure operators should engage meaningfully with their communities before a disaster strikes.

Original Source: https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2026/08/crisis-communications/

Additional Reading:

• Water Utility Communication During Emergency Response
• Cyber Resilience – The Importance of Proper Communication During an Incident

Related WaterISAC PIRs: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18