What Crisis Communication Failures Can Teach Us About Emergency Readiness
When an emergency strikes, it’s not just what you do that matters; it’s how quickly and clearly you communicate it. In the aftermath of several high-profile incidents, from natural disasters to industrial evacuations, a common thread has emerged: communication failures often turn manageable crises into catastrophic ones.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the most revealing crisis communication breakdowns and extract practical lessons businesses can apply. We’ll also show how platforms like Locate Global are helping organisations rethink emergency readiness with faster, smarter communication tools.
Storm Arwen: A Breakdown in Public Messaging
In late 2021, Storm Arwen brought winds of over 90mph, causing widespread damage across Northern England and Scotland. Over a million homes were left without power, some for more than a week. While the weather itself was extreme, it was the lack of clear, proactive communication that led to unnecessary hardship.
Local authorities faced criticism for not alerting communities quickly enough or providing accurate, ongoing updates. Many vulnerable individuals were left unaware of how long they’d be without power or where to seek help.
The Lesson for Businesses:
In an emergency, people need clarity, not confusion. Delays in communication—or a complete lack of updates—can compromise safety and escalate panic. Organisations must ensure that role-specific instructions and live updates reach the right people, fast.
Industrial Evacuations: The Price of One-Way Alerts
In some industrial settings, particularly within manufacturing and energy sectors, incidents such as chemical leaks or machinery failures require split-second decision-making. Yet there are multiple recorded cases where workers only received one-way alerts—or worse, only learned of the danger through word of mouth.
Without two-way confirmation, emergency coordinators had no way of knowing who was safe, who was unaccounted for, and where the biggest risks lay. These information gaps left site managers scrambling to respond blindly in high-pressure situations.
The Lesson for Businesses:
One-way communication is no longer good enough. Whether you’re dealing with a site fire or a cyber-attack, real-time visibility over staff location, status, and responses can make or break your crisis response.
Grenfell Tower: Missed Warnings, Missed Opportunities
The Grenfell Tower fire remains one of the UK’s most tragic incidents, and while its causes were structural, the inquiry also highlighted deep flaws in emergency communication, especially around warnings, resident coordination, and public sector response.
Residents’ earlier warnings about fire safety risks were not acknowledged or acted upon. During the emergency itself, inconsistent messaging from emergency services and poor inter-agency communication added to the chaos.
The Lesson for Businesses:
Readiness isn’t just about having a plan—it’s about acting on early signals and being able to mobilise quickly with cross-functional coordination. Your emergency response systems must support both rapid escalation and accountability.
How Locate Global Bridges the Communication Gap
At Locate Global, we’ve built our platform around resilience through clarity. Our emergency management tools are designed to fix the very gaps these incidents reveal:
- Role-based notifications ensure the right people get the right message at the right time—no noise, no confusion.
- Two-way communication allows staff to check in, escalate, or share information from anywhere.
- Live status tracking helps organisations instantly see who is affected, who is safe, and where help is needed.
- Centralised dashboards give crisis teams a full operational view, enabling faster, more informed decisions.
In short, we help you see more, say more, and act faster when it matters most.
The bottom line is, don’t wait for a wake-up call. Crisis communication failures are never just technological; they’re organisational, but the right tools can make preparedness easier to embed across your teams. You don’t have to wait for disaster to test your systems. Learn from others’ mistakes, and take a proactive approach to resilience today.
Need help improving your crisis communication strategy? Book a free consultation with our emergency readiness team and see how Locate Global can support your organisation.
