When Disaster Strikes . . .How to Manage a Successful Comeback

by Douglas G. Karpiloff, CPP

When a deadly car bomb exploded beneath the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center, Douglas Karpiloff was General Manager of Tenant Services. His experiences during the disaster recovery offer valuable lessons for facility managers everywhere.

The commercial real estate world changed forever on Feb. 26, 1993, with the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.

A 1,200-lb. (540-kg.) car bomb detonated in the basement between the two 110-story towers, killing six persons and an unborn baby, and injuring more than 1,000 others. It triggered the largest emergency response in New York history — a 26-alarm event.

Only six weeks later, more than 350 tenants moved back into the 12 million-sq.-ft.(1.1 million-sq.-m.) facility. Since then, people have continually asked us, “How did you do it?” I hope you never need to handle a disaster at your own facility, but here are six keys to a successful recovery effort:

1. Delegate authority.

You cannot do the job yourself when a major catastrophe strikes.
Pick those with specific knowledge and give them both the authority and material support they need to succeed.

2. Flatten organizational structure; minimize bureaucracy.

Normally, there are five to seven layers of management between field employees and corporate executives. You’ve got to reduce that. You will not have time for the normal “memo wars.”
We had access to the highest levels of management, and senior managers were given 10 times their normal purchasing authority. For example, within 24 hours we were able to develop a Request for Proposals (RFP), receive responses and select five moving companies for the US$1 million tenant move-back effort — provided to tenants at no cost.

How? We had a “move-back” team, with tenant services, legal and purchasing people on the team, and I had direct access to the executive director, the director of purchasing and the chief counsel. I presented results of the RFP in the hallway and got a verbal OK within one minute. That’s minimizing bureaucracy.

3. Access institutional knowledge of long-term agency employees.

In any facility, “as-built” drawings may not reflect the most recent changes made in the building, but the long-timers know where all the structural, mechanical and electrical systems really are, and you’ll need them. An outside survey team will take months to do that job.

4. Interact openly and honestly with the media.

These people can destroy you if you don’t work with them properly.
We used the Tylenol approach — the public relations crisis model — which is to be open and honest with the media from day one. We were dealing with print, radio and TV people from around the world, since an event of this magnitude had never happened before in the United States.
To work with them, we held comprehensive daily press briefings with the executive director and key World Trade Center staff. We had to trust our staff –and you should trust yours, too.

5. Develop a master Critical Path Method (CPM) schedule.

How do you manage a huge recovery effort? We developed a master project schedule using CPM, and we hired a company, Hanscomb & Associates, who were doing work for our capital improvement program.
They were already on site, and they sent people out in the field with the “troops” who were doing the recovery work. They developed a schedule with key recovery staff input and tracked the progress every single day.

6. Develop cooperative relationships with suppliers and consultants.

For example, we needed a whole load of cellular phones, chargers and extra batteries. Motorola brought them within 24 hours of my call. What’s unusual is that New York had the largest snowfall in 20 years, and the area representative brought them in a big box by himself!

— Douglas G. Karpiloff, CPP, is Program Manager for Security Systems at the World Trade Center, New York. He spoke at the International Development Research Council’s 1997 Spring World Congress in Indianapolis.