On October 29, Hurricane Sandy battered the Eastern seaboard, with New York and New Jersey bearing the brunt. Lessons property owners and managers learned serve not only as a prevention and recovery blueprint for that area, but anywhere in the US that may be impacted by a storm.

We spoke with BOMA/NY director of legislative affairs Sylvester Giustino, The Moinian Group VP of property managementRon Zeccardi (left), andCBRE senior real estate manager Lou Trimboli (right), who are part of BOMA/NYs Hurricane Sandy task force. (The storm photobombed our pic.) The group surveyed members and released a study on impacts and lessons learned, sharing whatthey'vefound with CRE communities worldwide. The past six months have been about tackling the low-hanging fruit, they say, like improving communication systems, preparing emergency contact lists within organizations, and prepping buildings with facilities (think showers), backup batteries, and food supplies to shelter employees for several days if public transit is down.

Lesson 1: Build Relationships Now

It's critical to bolster relationships with both insurers and local jurisdictions because a storm like this will happen again, they say. These relationships are no longer just critical and valuable for corporate owners, but property managers, since theyre the ones on site before, during, and after a storm. Other steps that can be taken by property managers: strengthening building IT, forming redundant communications systems, and learning all critical systems that will allow for a controlled property shutdown in case electricity, gas, steam, or water is affected. The task force has been working with other BOMA chapters around the country and will be presenting its findings at the BOMA International conference in San Diego June 23. (If you'd like a copy of the report, email Sylvester.)

Lesson 2: Know Your Insurance

Deloitte partner Claudia Wolf, an accountant, has been calculating Sandys damages and financial impacts for clients.$100M in damages later and her jobisn'tdone, as people are still rebuilding and transitioning. One of the biggest lessons, she says:understanding your insurance coverage and what you have versus what you hope you have, she says. Some clients thought they hadflat deductibles, but loss of power, flooding, wind damage, egress, and ingress changed that due toexclusions. (New product idea: insurance insurance, protecting against coverage that you thought you had, but didn't.)

Lesson 3: Don't Make Assumptions

"Youcant have any assumptions based on other peoples experiences or what you read in the paper, Claudia warns. Some clients have gottenfull recovery from insurance and othersnothing at all, she says, with most falling in between.Clients also have to plan forworst-case scenarios, which often aren't included in disaster recovery plans and willhelp mitigate future financial issues.Above is the Sandy-damaged,partially collapsedcrane that sat upon Extell Development's One57 condos under construction in Manhattan, where theWSJreports a new crane is being hoisted this week.

Lesson 4: Communication Is Everything

Rose Associates, which owns and manages apartment buildings across NYC, had around 20 buildings significantly impacted. The majority of them experienced loss of electricity and water pressure, firm COO J. Brian Peters tells us. The biggest impact was felt in communications, particularly when cell phone coverage became spotty. The primary lesson: You need to use every channel at your disposal to communicate with residents, he says. That includes robo-dialing, email blasts, portal websites (each building has one), and social media. Its also critical to coordinate centralized communication to avoid miscommunication, he warnswhen buildings are impacted for a major period of time (in this case, 10 days), the absence of such structure allows rumors to take over, and then you lose ability to communicate effectively.

Lesson 5: Prepare Your Infrastructure

Rose Associates has since contracted to install five foot-high flood gates around the perimeter of Le Rivage at 21 West St (near the World Trade Center), which had flooding on the first floor--above is its damaged gym. They're higher than the water it experienced during Sandy, he says, giving assurance for future events. But what most severely impacted the building was electrical loss due to Con Edisons well-publicized grid failure; Le Rivage needed a mobile generator to allow reoccupation. The buildings designdoesn'tpermit a permanent generator, so infrastructure changes like wire installation had to be made to support future mobile generator use. Now we'll be able to plug and play in case another event arises, he says.

Lesson 6: Work Together

The industrial buildings that Cushman & Wakefield manages--2.5M SF across Northern and Central New Jersey, like 24 Englehard in Monroe, above--didn'texperience major damages besides power outages. The firm spent the week prior with owners and tenants securing items and placing sandbags where needed, then held regular meetings and communicated via email and phone as the storm progressed, reports director of corporate occupier and investor services Sam Collison. Now tenants are more proactive about preparation, he says, including asking for more TI allowance or turnkey delivery of generators, as well as inquiring about flood plains while searching for space. Seven days of not being able to operate severely impacts even the smallest users, he notes.

How have your operations changed? Tell amanda@bisnow.com.