Lessons learned from Blackout 2003

Lessons learned from Blackout 2003: "Lessons learned from Blackout 2003

A report has been submitted to New York mayor Michael Bloomberg highlighting the business continuity and emergency planning lessons that can be learned from the blackouts that affected the city in August.

Entitled Enhancing New York City's Emergency Preparedness' the report is broken down into the following sections:

* Emergency response: mobilization and coordination of agency resources.
* Business continuity: maintenance of critical functions within the public and private sectors, including backup power, telecommunications, and essential workforce.
* The city as employer: ability of agencies to evacuate and communicate with their employees, especially employees required to ensure essential city services.
* Communications: efficacy of communications within agencies, between agencies, to the city's businesses and to and from the public, including the infrastructure that supported these communications and the availability of information to key decision-makers.
* Transportation: ability of people to move within, out of and into the city when various forms of transportation are impaired.
* Public health, safety and preparedness: availability of safe food, water, shelter and other services required to ensure public safety.

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