Emergency Block Communication: What to Do When Something Goes Wrong

A pipe bursts on the top floor at 11pm. Water is coming through the ceiling on three levels. You need every affected resident to know what is happening, what to do, and who is handling it — in the next fifteen minutes, not the next morning.

The emergency communication protocol

1. 1Post one announcement immediately: what happened, who is affected, what to do.
2. 2Include emergency contact numbers for the managing agent and emergency services.
3. 3Update the announcement as the situation develops — do not start new threads.
4. 4Post a closing update when the incident is resolved.
5. 5Store the incident report and insurance claim in the document library.

Why WhatsApp fails in emergencies

• Not everyone has notifications on for the group.
• Messages get buried under responses and speculation.
• New residents may not be in the group yet.
• There is no way to pin an update at the top for more than a few days.

Be ready before the emergency

The blocks that handle emergencies well are not lucky — they have a channel ready. CommonCouncil sends announcements directly to every resident. Post once, update as needed, and everyone sees it — even at 11pm on a Sunday.