To prevent your community's utilities from making damage from a disaster even worse, create a map showing exactly where to find all the utility shutoff valves and the tools necessary to operate them. And create a Utility Shutoff Locations Chart that describes exactly how to find and operate the shutoffs. (See our sample chart below)

Map And Chart Help Florida Community

A map and chart recently helped keep half the units at a Florida community from being destroyed. "Last February a tornado wrecked 92 apartments (half of one of our communities) in less than three minutes," says Maureen McCarthy, regional property director for Concord Management in Maitland, Florida. Also, the twister left downed electrical wires scattered about, water spurting from broken connections, and natural gas leaking into the air. "If we'd been unable to turn off those utilities, we would have had a flood and fire on top of the tornado and could have lost the rest of the community," she says.

McCarthy was able to quickly shut off the community's utilities because she knew exactly where the shutoffs were located. She gave the fire department a laminated, color-coded map pinpointing the location of each shutoff value or switch and the tool needed to operate it. With the map, she also gave the department a chart describing in detail where the shutoffs were and how to operate them.

What The Map And Chart Should Show

Map: "A shutoff location map should show two things," says Ted Wendt, Concord's regional property director in Texas, "the location of all the utility shutoffs and the tools you'll need to operate them." You should show the tool locations because many shutoff valves need special wrenches that aren't found in the ordinary toolbox. The fire department will have these tools, but you can save time and reduce damage if you can shut off the utilities yourself while the fire department, plumber, or electrician is on the way.

You can make the map yourself. Just use a drawing or an architect's diagram of the community layout and mark the location of each utility shutoff and shutoff tool. Use different colors -- say, blue for water, yellow for electricity, red for gas, and green for tools.

Chart: The Utility Shutoff Locations Chart should describe where to find the shutoffs that are indicated on the map. You'll need a chart because shutoffs are often located in out-of-the-way places, such as behind boilers and in stairwells. A map alone may lack sufficient information for someone to find their shutoff valve or switch.

Keep copies of the map and chart together in several locations, says McCarthy. Keeping only one set in one office won't help you if that office is destroyed or inaccessible. "We put one set in the main office and one set in the maintenance shop, and I keep a third set at home," she says. Do the same with the shutoff tools, adds Wendt. Keep a set in the maintenance shop, where they belong, and keep another set somewhere else in case you can't get to the maintenance shop. Don't store the tools next tot he shutoffs themselves because doing so invites vandalism, he says.

Laminate the maps and charts to preserve them and prevent damage. If you don't have a laminating machine, a local copy center should be able to laminate them for you.

Do Community Walk-Through With Staff

Once you've created the map and chart, instruct your staff where the shutoffs and tools are located by actually showing them the places, suggests McCarthy. "Using the map, walk to each place where the tools are kept and then to each shutoff." Show your staff how to disconnect each utility, since it may not be obvious. Incorporate this walk-through into your training program for new staff, adds Mistick. That way, you'll be making sure that everyone knows where to go, or where to tell emergency services personnel to go.