Lessons from Hurricanes Helene and Milton: Strengthening Storm Preparedness and Disaster Response

While no one can predict a storm’s exact impact, one thing is certain: preparation leads to faster, more effective recovery. A strong plan ensures your team and community are ready when disaster strikes.

Forerunner provides communities with the tools to plan ahead, respond efficiently, and recover quickly. After Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the Gulf Coast in September and October, we worked alongside floodplain managers and emergency responders facing critical recovery challenges. Through this work, we uncovered key lessons in storm preparedness and practical strategies to help you strengthen your response and resilience before the next hurricane or weather event.

5 Key Ways to Prepare for the Next Big Storm

1. Anticipate Unique Community Challenges

Every community faces different obstacles during disaster recovery. Thinking through potential roadblocks ahead of time can help you respond more effectively when an event occurs.

• Consider how mobile home parks or multi-unit addresses will impact your damage assessments. Many mobile home parks have a single listed address, but you’ll need accurate data for each unit to manage recovery effectively.
• Work with appraisers and data providers to verify property values and update records before disaster strikes.
• Understand the specific reporting requirements for state and federal disaster assistance in advance.

2. Organize Your Data and Assign Responsibilities

Clear data management and role assignments streamline response efforts and reduce confusion in high-pressure situations.

• Identify the tools your team will use for inspections, communication, and data tracking.
• Assign clear responsibilities to internal staff and external contractors, ensuring any necessary paperwork is finalized ahead of time.
• Store crucial property data in a centralized system so it’s accessible even if key personnel are unavailable.

3. Train Your Team for Post-Disaster Response

Your team needs hands-on experience with the tools and processes they’ll rely on when a storm hits.

• Conduct training sessions on your damage assessment tools, such as Forerunner, before hurricane season begins.
• Plan for low- or no-service areas by preparing backup solutions like dry-erase boards, printed damage estimate sheets, or preloaded apps.
• Ensure all relevant data—property addresses, mailing addresses, and disaster zone maps—is stored in an easily accessible format.
• Ask your team these key questions:
  
  • How will you collect Substantial Damage Estimates (SDEs)?
  • Can you generate FEMA-compliant reports quickly?
  • What reports will be most meaningful for securing state and federal funding?

4. Strengthen Your SI/SD Processes for Faster Recovery

Substantial Improvement (SI) and Substantial Damage (SD) tracking is critical for compliance and rebuilding efforts.

• Set up systems for tracking damages and property values, ensuring that the data is easily accessible.
• Educate residents about SI/SD requirements during blue sky days, so they aren’t caught off guard when a permit is required after a storm.
• Train your floodplain management team on SI/SD compliance and best practices for communicating requirements to property owners.

5. Prepare Communication Templates in Advance

After a storm, residents need clear, timely information. Having ready-to-go templates allows you to respond quickly and consistently.

• Create pre-approved templates for letters, notices, and forms to send to residents post-disaster. Adjustments may be needed based on the situation, but having a structured template in place will save time and reduce stress.
• Be proactive: Once a storm hits, the volume of inquiries skyrockets, so preparing materials now will help your team manage the influx of requests efficiently.

Forerunner: Prepare, Respond, and Recover with Confidence

One of the biggest challenges communities face after a major storm is consolidating disparate data from multiple sources. Forerunner simplifies disaster response by keeping all emergency management data and documentation in one place—providing teams with a single source of truth for response and recovery. For those hit by multiple storms in close succession, this historical data is invaluable. By knowing the pre-storm condition of properties, teams can streamline inspections, accelerate damage assessments, and speed up recovery efforts – and with continuously updated parcel data, communities can also track property changes over time. 

Forerunners platform also provides critical workflow tools to help communities respond faster. Some key features include:

• Preliminary Damage Assessments. Our Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) tool helps teams capture the initial damage assessments done on individual properties. Forerunner is mobile–responsive, so teams can use it in the field to document degree and type of damage, capture photos of damaged properties, and coordinate across team members to tackle data collection quickly.
• Substantial Damage Estimates (SDE). Forerunner offers seamless damage estimates using the same formulas and logic as FEMA's SDE tool for consistent results. Our easy-to-use interface makes it simple to deploy multiple teams quickly.
• Substantial Improvement and Damage Tracking. Forerunner can be used to track Substantial Damage costs across properties, which will let teams know if the damage costs exceed the 50% threshold and the property requires a Substantial Damage Letter. The Substantial Damage Letters can be created and tracked in Forerunner as well. 
• Custom Property Warnings and Custom Maps. Our Warnings feature allows teams to set custom warnings on individual properties, flagging properties that require a damage assessment or ones that qualify for post-disaster grant funding. Teams can also pull in custom maps to layer on their existing maps.
• Custom Post-Disaster Aerial Imagery. If a community has flown or received post-disaster imagery from an agency like NOAA, Forerunner can bring this data in so that flood mapping is consolidated in one place. This can be especially useful if teams are surveying damage aerially before going out in the field.
• Mobile App. Our mobile application (Android/iOS) was built for in-field use in dynamic situations where wireless connectivity might be difficult to come by. The Mobile App provides users with the ability to download maps and use Forerunner in offline mode to help make data collection in challenging environments easier.‍ Teams can also use location sharing for better collaboration.
• Resident Communications. The public Forerunner website can be a great resource for getting the word out about regulatory requirements as rebuilding occurs post-storm. Every individual website has a Get Help form to allow residents to reach municipalities with specific property questions. Logs are automatically generated when this occurs, helping to streamline data collection and making it easier to coordinate across team members.‍
• Letter Generation. Forerunner can automatically generate letters ranging from Substantial Damage Letters to mailings to individuals in Repetitive Loss Areas. Templates can be customized, and letters generated in the software are saved by property so that teams can refer to them for recollection or reporting!‍

Need Help Preparing for the Next Storm?

Whether you're a current partner or looking for a better way to manage your floodplain operations, we’re here to support you. Email us anytime at hello@withforerunner.com or request a demo.