In so many ways it feels like only a few months ago that we were mopping up from the last major flood in our region. This week as I write many are preparing to embark on that familiar journey, while others are experiencing a flood recovery process for the very first time.
Either way, it’s a daunting challenge but one that is rarely endured completely alone. We’ve seen it time and time again in our region and that of our regional neighbours, when disaster strikes it’s the Local Community that comes to the rescue.
If I’m being transparent though, this week has been a challenge for me. There’s a phenomena known as “Survivor’s Guilt” and this week that concept has been very apparent for me.
Being in retail is interesting. Many use a “visit to the shops” as a way to escape their reality. Some come to simply have someone neutral to listen to them or occasionally even cry with them. Others are simply so bored by their circumstances (in this case the restrictions placed on them due to the floodwaters), they simply want to come and vent about how much they have been inconvenienced.
In my industry, it’s important to “meet people where they are at” even if that doesn’t quite line up with where “I am at” at the time. Helping someone by simply listening to them, is an often overlooked superpower that many in service industries possess, and it’s times like these that those superpowers really come into their own.
I’ve come to realise that when a region is impacted by a disaster, everyone is affected but simply to varying degrees. Many people have asked me this week “have you been impacted by the floods?” and my answer has remained the same “not physically by the water, no.” But have we been impacted by this natural disaster? Absolutely.
No one escapes when a region is dealt a blow like this. The impact is simply relative to each individual, their situation and their outlook in general. From “inconvenienced” right through to “severely impacted with loss of homes or livelihoods” everyone feels it and no-one escapes completely.
From a business point of view, this week saw my muscle memory transport me right back to the days of that dreaded “C” word that reared its ugly head in early 2020. The days where our shops sat there full of stock, without a person walking through the doors. This time though, we were prepared and I knew exactly what to do. Connect with people.
When we are forcibly isolated, it seems that all we crave is seeing another person! So this week, I decided to use our social platforms to connect with our followers and simply just “be” with them. Sure, we had some sale stock to move, so that gave me a good excuse to feel slightly less weird about being LIVE on Instagram again, but it actually just felt good taking action and doing something productive.
But I also believe that there’s a time and place for things like this. There’s always a cycle that surrounds an imminent disaster, well ones that we have a little bit of warning for anyway. For us this time, it was the days of rain leading up to the actual flood. I find this is when people feel the most “inconvenienced” because nothing has really happened yet. We’re simply in a holding pattern of hopeful anticipation, that soon the rain will stop.
There were many examples of other local businesses “pivoting back” to their COVID strategies, whether that be by physically delivering theirs Goods to their customers or making use of technology where need be. But tragically there have also emerged stories of those who simply may not be able to physically, mentally, emotionally or financially rally enough to rebuild.
As we enter the next phase of the disaster cycle, let’s all commit to doing as much as we can for those we meet, no matter the extent of their impact. When we do, we show we truly value being a part of this Community and deserve to be here
