Time to get ready for your next strata disaster

Between the dire warnings of the doom-scrollers and the blinkered “she’ll-be-right” vision of climate denialists, it’s hard to know what the coming summer will bring in terms of crisis and catastrophe.

Whether it’s extremes of weather, bush fires or strained infrastructure, will your block see a crisis turn into a catastrophe?

Perhaps all will be calm as we sip our locally distilled gins and bush tucker tonics on our sturdily constructed balconies, immune from the vagaries of economic and environmental extremes.

We should be so lucky.  There’s just as much chance that our windows will be shut tightly against swirling bushfire smoke while the air-con isn’t working because of a brown-out of electrical supplies, and the lifts are out because too many owners are behind with their levies and there’s no money for repairs.

Expect the unexpected, they tell us. Whether it’s flood or fire, power outages or financial disaster, something is going to hit apartment owners, either out of the blue, or sneaking up on us like a king tide.

There’s not much we can do about bushfires, floods or power supply shortages. We can’t predict the unpredictable, but we can be better prepared, according to one of the topics in an Owners Corporation Network (OCN) conference last week.

For instance, is your basement or underground garage vulnerable to flooding, especially if your block was unadvisedly built on a flood plain?

A quick internet search for terms like “flood barriers” or “garage dams” will reveal that there is a plethora of companies out there ready to install some sort of emergency water blockers.

This would apply also to ground-floor flats and townhouses, although I can already hear the strata pedants firing up about whether these are common property or lot concerns.

And just supposing your lifts do go out, does your building have protocols that would look after the older and infirm who are either stuck at home or trapped on the ground.

Trust me, climbing 15 floors via the fire stairs is not for the faint-hearted. But what can you do? 

Blocks that don’t have a concierge or on-site manager – and that’s the vast majority – should consider establishing a “phone tree” where one resident calls three others to see if they are alright, and those three each call another three and so on.

You could even organise food relays so that the younger and fitter can share the burden of a few floors each to get essential supplies, especially medication, to those who can’t get out.

If the smoke does blow in, as it has in Sydney recently, leaving a spare set of keys with your neighbours could allow them to close your doors and windows before it gets too bad.

The common theme is all of this is community and it’s encouraging to see how willing many people are to pitch in, in an emergency. But you need to know who those people are and what they are able and willing to do.

The key is to have organised the systems and protocols before disaster strikes.  Leave it till you need it and it may already be too late. By the way, investors are entitled to ask what measures are in place to look after their tenants.

A version of this column first appeared in the Australian Financial Review.