During a Hurricane, What Decisions Should a Hotel Record?

During an active hurricane event, decisions can move faster than memory.

A chronological event log preserves significant updates, decisions, actions and changes so the command team can maintain situational awareness and the property can reconstruct the response afterwards.

Caribbean hurricane readiness is an operating capability

CDEMA is the Caribbean Community's regional inter-governmental disaster-management agency. It promotes Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM): an approach intended to reduce risk and loss from natural and technological hazards and the effects of climate change.

For a hotel or resort, that regional resilience idea becomes practical at property level. The property needs a plan, but it also needs people who understand their roles, a way to coordinate actions, reliable information, staff accountability and a record of important decisions.

That is the purpose of the CaribSafe Hurricane Event Log.

Use official information, then translate it into property action

Hotels should monitor authoritative meteorological and government sources for the jurisdiction in which they operate. For Atlantic tropical cyclones, the US National Hurricane Center is an important forecasting and advisory source, but it does not replace national meteorological services, disaster-management agencies, evacuation orders or other local instructions.

The operational question for the property is what happens after the information arrives.

Who reviews it? Who decides whether a readiness stage changes? Who briefs staff? Who communicates with guests? Who checks fuel, water, food, transport and critical systems? What needs to be completed before conditions deteriorate? What gets recorded?

A weather feed provides information. A readiness system turns information into accountable action.

Why an ICS-style structure is useful

FEMA's Incident Command System is a standardised incident-management framework. Its major functions are Command, Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance/Administration. FEMA also describes ICS as scalable: sections are activated when needed, and the Incident Commander retains responsibility for functions that have not been delegated.

That matters for hospitality because a property does not need to imitate a government emergency operations centre. It can use the logic of clear command and functional responsibility at an appropriate scale.

For example:

• Incident Commander / property lead: sets priorities and authorises key decisions.
• Operations: carries out operational actions.
• Planning: maintains situation information, plans and documentation.
• Logistics: secures resources and services needed for the response.
• Finance / Administration: tracks relevant costs, procurement and administrative records where activated.
• Supporting safety, communications or liaison roles can be assigned where the incident requires them.

CaribSafe describes its approach as ICS-style deliberately. The software supports hospitality emergency-role clarity; it does not turn a hotel into a government incident-management agency or certify the property as ICS compliant.

Build around decisions, dependencies and evidence

A mature hurricane plan should be usable before, during and after the event.

Before the storm, management needs readiness actions, staff assignments, supplies, guest communication, property protection and decision triggers.

During the event, the team needs current situation information, task ownership, staff accountability, decisions and an operational log.

After the event, the focus changes to life safety, property assessment, service restoration, evidence, costs, welfare, lessons and corrective actions.

The strongest records connect those phases. If a decision was made during the event, the team should be able to understand the information behind it and the action that followed.

Evidence is valuable, but do not overclaim it

A documented emergency record can support management review, owner reporting, regulatory enquiries and insurance discussions. It can show that the property had plans, assigned responsibilities, recorded actions and retained supporting evidence.

It should not be marketed as guaranteeing an insurance claim, proving legal compliance by itself or eliminating liability.

Insurance coverage and claims decisions depend on the policy, the loss, evidence requirements, exclusions, insurer processes and the applicable jurisdiction. The resource therefore helps organise evidence; it does not promise an insurance outcome.

Exercise the plan

Readiness is stronger when roles and assumptions are tested before hurricane conditions arrive.

A tabletop exercise can be simple: present the team with a realistic storm scenario, move through several decision points and ask each function what it would do. Test communications, staffing, guest arrangements, supply dependencies and escalation.

The output should not be a pass/fail score. It should be a list of gaps with owners and due dates.

That creates a repeatable cycle:

Plan -> Assign -> Exercise -> Improve -> Activate -> Record -> Recover -> Debrief -> Improve again.

Use the free resource

Download the CaribSafe Hurricane Event Log and adapt it to your property, island, emergency plan and local authority requirements.

The resource works on its own. CaribSafe Ready is the continuous operating layer: helping Caribbean hospitality teams maintain readiness information, assign ICS-style emergency roles, coordinate tasks during an active event and preserve the operational record for post-event review.

Last reviewed: August 31, 2026