2025 continues its jump-out-the-gate-with-tragedy start. If you're a business, knowing how things work will help you in your response and recovery. Do not get wrapped up in misinformation. Being in the military showed me two things: the first report is usually wrong and rumors spread easily and quickly.
Accurate sources of information accomplish some really important tasks. They let people know what they need to know, what they are facing, the status of the event, and where they can get help. All the other noise? Hinders all of that. It hinders getting help. It hinders response efforts. Accurate sources are usually official briefings. I say "usually" because even they are flawed at times. I listened to Asheville/Buncombe county briefings wondering why they never had media training (and if they did, why wasn't it better). I watched NOLA briefings from both the locals (a hot mess of political posturing) and the FBI (I won't say they were lying, but rather saying something definitively they knew wasn't definitive and had to backtrack only hours later). I've seen them done very well after shooting incidents in El Paso and a cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas.
I'm seeing a lot of media coverage on who was on vacation as the fire started, the budget (overall, not looking into details of the cuts) and, on social media, "Biden promised to give Los Angeles money to cover six months of funding the disaster response?! What about WNC??" Helene was one disaster. The fires are something different.
Maybe it's the military in me that makes command decisions, looks at the task at hand and will worry about how it could have been better (and who was responsible for it not being better) later. The fact a budget was cut or there wasn't enough investment in infrastructure to pump water out efficiently isn't going to be figured out/addressed/solved now. There are fires to be put out and that is all a distraction. The budget and investment can't be changed and even if it could, nothing can be done about it in the moment to fix what's going on now.
The people on social media who are screaming about WNC (I live in WNC) are not wrong in that things aren't showing up as promised, but they forget that we were promised six months of expenses covered, too. They will be. Here is the source of some of the kinks: government procurement. You need to contract for the services and there is a process. It's not quick. Multiple agencies are present in WNC and are doing work, but who is assigned what/when/paid for by certain money is getting sorted out (granted, slower than anyone would like). I am a little perturbed at how much debris is still around (as of January 9, 2025, 27% of the debris has been removed), but I understand the process. And it's a lot of debris.
For context, FEMA had reservists to help with the recovery of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption present and on the ground for over 30 years (last time I checked with a FEMA HQ contact in 2021 at least one reservist was still there...in 2021). Just because you don't see it doesn't mean the help isn't there or it's leaving as soon as another disaster happens.
Also, the media cycle is short-lived. It moves on very fast. Look how quickly an assassination attempt wasn't even mentioned two weeks later when a new democratic candidate for president was appointed. It's a harsh reality, but it's no less real. I remember from when 9/11 happened that it was our (I'm from NYC) news 20 pages deeps for months. After two weeks, the rest of the US moved on. I knew that would happen in WNC after Helene.
So let's talk about expectations. It's going to take years to rebuild those neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Even if every single home and business that was burned to the ground was owned by a celebrity or wealthy person with the funds to do it, there are not enough builders or supplies to replace them all at once or even quickly. Even in the best conditions, one 3br 2.5 bath house with standard materials takes about 3-5 months to build. That's just one. There are over 12,000 structures (homes, schools, churches, businesses) lost in the fires so far.
So, business owner reader, having realistic expectations based on accurate information will help you get back on track sooner and prepare in advance for how long you're going to have to wait. You will know what is too long and think of things you can do to shorten that time if at all possible. You didn't know before because you didn't have to. Use this knowledge to your advantage (and read my upcoming book about exactly this!).
Being angry over things you can't control or change is stressful. You'll have enough stress if you're in a disaster.

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