Log in


ACP members' best practices book

Where does one go for the best of best practices in business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management? To the brain trust of our profession: The Association of Continuity Professionals (ACP).

As a current or future member of ACP, you’ve demonstrated a commitment to excellence in professional practice, and to learning through the exchange of the knowledge that keeps you at the top of your area of expertise.

To that same purpose, this is an e-book of best practices as submitted by our members. These practices are what these experts have used successfully in the course of doing their business, whatever and wherever that may be.

On behalf of the Association of Continuity Professionals, we again thank our author-contributors and sincerely hope you find their insights of great value in your practice.

purchase your copy here


The Impact of Changes at Federal Agencies on Continuity Plans


By Walter Lawn

Liberty Valley Chapter member Walter Lawn offers the following advice

regarding the potential impact of government actions on your continuity plans

 

Recent changes to staffing and policy at Federal agencies may call for out-of-cycle reviews of your continuity plans.

For example, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced in June that it will no longer receive overnight microwave imaging of tropical storms.[1] This could reduce the accuracy of certain information, particularly the location of the storm’s eye, and its intensity. If this information is less reliable, are there parts of your hurricane response plans that should be changed? For instance, you might default to securing a facility before nightfall, instead of waiting for updates the next morning.

In another weather-related example, reporting on the recent flooding in Texas indicated that reductions in local National Weather Service (NWS) staff may have hampered coordination between forecasters and local emergency management officials.[2]

To ensure that your continuity plans remain current:

If your plans rely directly on Federal services, such as NOAA, NWS, or the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):

  • Verify your contacts.
  • Determine if service levels are currently degraded.
  • Talk to your contacts. Try to get an honest and balanced assessment of where changes to reliability may occur, and how likely that is.
  • If your only contact with an agency is through its web site, do some research. Mistrust both bland statements that nothing will change and sensational stories predicting complete failure. Dig.
  • Review your plans and processes that rely on these services to determine if any changes are required.

If your plans rely indirectly on Federal services, such as through a situational awareness service:

  • Have a good, tough talk with your account rep. Find out if they anticipate any significant changes in the quality of their underlying data sources. If they do, ask what plans they have to address them.
  • Based on that discussion, decide which of your plans and processes require review.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/climate/hurricane-monitoring-data.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE8.rGlV.2soyhwUm18Gp&smid=url-share

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/us/politics/texas-floods-warnings-vacancies.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE8.PT_R.CA7yFouswV2J&smid=url-share


Walter Lawn was formerly Disaster Recovery Planning Manager for the Americas at Marsh McLennan. In that work he relied heavily on both NOAA and NWS for information about evolving weather-related threats in the U.S.



  About Us

ACP connects and supports a diverse community of resilience and continuity professionals. 

Contact Us

3739 National Drive, Suite 202

Raleigh, NC 27612

(919) 314-6565

staff@acp-international.com

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software