Crisis Comms 101: How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan

Local governments manage a wide range of disruptions, from severe weather and water-service issues to public safety incidents and technology outages. In each situation, residents need clear information they can trust and practical guidance on what to do next.

Why a Crisis Communication Plan Matters

A crisis communication plan defines:

✔ Who communicates

✔ How information is verified and approved

✔ Which channels to use

✔ How to keep updates accessible across the community

With that framework in place, teams can respond faster, reduce confusion, and give residents clear direction from the first alert through recovery.

Use the following 10 steps to build a clear, reliable crisis communication plan for your community.

Step 1: Identify the Emergencies Your Community Should Prepare For

Your communication plan should reflect the types of incidents your community is most likely to face. Start with your local hazards, infrastructure, services, and past emergencies to identify situations that could require fast public communication.

These may include:

• Severe weather, flooding, wildfires, or extreme temperatures
• Water system failures or boil-water advisories
• Power or utility disruptions
• Cybersecurity incidents
• Major road closures or transportation incidents
• Public health or public safety emergencies

For each emergency scenario, consider who could be affected, what they may need to know first, which departments or response partners would be involved, and how quickly information would need to reach the public.

While you don’t need a separate communication plan for every possible emergency, these scenarios give your team realistic situations to plan around as you build one adaptable process.

Step 2: Identify and Segment the Audiences You Need to Reach

A key step is identifying who may need information and how they may need it during each type of incident. Your audience will change based on the situation, the affected area, and the actions people need to take, so a single blanket message rarely serves everyone well.

Segmenting your audiences helps your team account for those differences and identify people who may need additional support receiving or acting on emergency information.

Step 3: Define Communication Roles, Backups, and Approval Workflows

With your audiences identified, assign clear ownership over how information moves from your response team to the public. Confusion about responsibilities can slow your response time.

Your plan should name specific people or job titles for each role below. A documented process for moving information from the source to the verifier, approver, and publisher can help prevent delays. It may also include an expedited path for urgent life-safety alerts.

• Communications Lead: Coordinates the overall communication response. This may be the public information officer or communications director.
• Information Verifier: Confirms facts with appropriate departments, emergency responders, or other trusted sources.
• Drafter and Publisher: Prepares clear updates and publishes information through approved channels.
• Media Spokesperson: Serves as a designated contact for media inquiries and briefings.
• Backup for Each Role: Steps in if the primary person responsible for a critical communication role is unavailable.

Set Approval Authority and Keep Details Current

Establish who can send different types of messages, and who takes over that authority if the primary decision-maker isn’t available. Be sure to keep contact information for every role current and handle sensitive details according to your local government’s privacy, security, and records-management policies.

Step 4: Map and Coordinate Your Communication Channels

Different incidents, audiences, and levels of urgency may call for different communication channels. Your plan should include multiple ways to reach people in case power outages, internet disruptions, or technology issues affect one method.

Mass Notification Systems
Send coordinated alerts across text, email, voice, and other supported channels.

Official Web Infrastructure
Update government homepages and dedicated emergency status pages.

Digital and Mobile Platforms
Share updates through social media channels and mobile app notifications.

Traditional Broadcast Media
Partner with local television and radio stations for broader regional reach.

Physical Signage
Use available digital road signs, facility signage, and community bulletin boards to share important updates.

Community Networks
Share updates through trusted local organizations and response partners.

Make Your Communication Channels Work Together

Plan how information will move across your channels and keep the core message consistent wherever it appears. A brief text alert, for example, can direct residents to an official emergency page for detailed instructions, maps, and continuing updates.

As information changes, update your channels from the same verified source so residents receive consistent instructions wherever they look.

Step 5: Plan to Reach Subscribers and Nonsubscribers

Visitors, commuters, and new residents in a hazard zone still need life-safety information, whether or not they’ve ever heard of your notification system.

To be more effective, your plan should reach:

• Subscribed residents who’ve opted in to your routine alerts
• Anyone physically in the hazard zone, regardless of residency or subscription status

For authorized alerting authorities, FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) closes this gap. It provides access to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which broadcast geographically targeted messages to compatible mobile devices within a set radius with no sign-up required.

Geographic targeting also lets you scale the message to the incident. A road closure calls for a tight, focused alert. A widespread weather event calls for reaching your entire jurisdiction.

Step 6: Make Emergency Communications Accessible and Multilingual

Planning in advance for the diverse functional needs of your residents gives your team a clearer process during an active response and helps identify the formats, languages, and communication support your community may need.

Your plan should include:

• Plain language: Use short sentences, familiar words, and clear action steps.
• Accessible digital content: Include alt text, video captions, and accessible website updates.
• Multiple formats: Share critical information through text, voice, and visual formats.
• Language access: Prepare emergency templates in commonly used community languages. Some notification systems offer automatic translation for text, email, and text-to-speech alerts sent to subscribers.
• Accessible briefings: Plan for services such as sign language interpretation.

Step 7: Develop Adaptable Message Templates and Communication Workflows

Flexible crisis message templates give your team a faster starting point and help keep information consistent across channels.

Pair those templates with an established workflow so verified updates can move quickly through drafting, approval, publication, and monitoring. As questions or misinformation spread, staff should know who responds, who verifies corrections, and who shares them with the public.

Five Questions Every Crisis Template Should Answer

To keep that process moving, it helps to build each template around five key questions. Together, the answers help staff quickly turn verified information into a useful public update:

1. SOURCE: Who is issuing the warning?
   Identify the agency or authority sharing the message.
2. HAZARDS AND IMPACTS: What is happening?
   Share the verified facts and expected impacts on people or services.
3. LOCATION: Where is it happening?
   Define the affected location or area.
4. GUIDANCE: What should people do?
   Give clear, actionable instructions.
5. TIME: What is the timing?
   State when the threat is expected to begin and end, if known.

Step 8: Coordinate With Public Safety and Community Partners

Early coordination with response partners can help your community receive accurate, consistent information during an emergency.

Depending on the incident, your partners may include:

• First responders: Police, fire, EMS, and emergency management
• Community services: Utilities, public works, hospitals, and schools
• Government partners: County, state, and neighboring local governments
• Community networks: Local media, nonprofits, and community organizations

Define How You Will Work Together

Strong partnerships can extend the reach of critical information. Your plan should also outline who leads communication, how partners share verified updates, and how joint communications are coordinated across schools, utilities, nonprofits, media, and other community organizations.

Step 9: Train Your Team to Use the Plan

With your communication process and partnerships established, your next step is to make sure the people responsible for carrying out the plan know how to use it.

Training should cover the roles, workflows, and communication tools staff may need during an emergency. Primary and backup staff should know how to access your mass notification system, website, social media accounts, and other approved channels.

Key Skills Your Team Should Practice

Step 10: Test, Review, and Keep Your Plan Ready

An emergency communication plan can be more effective when managed as a living document. Regular testing and evaluation may help keep protocols current as risks, personnel, and technologies change over time.

Your agency might consider a simple, three-step cycle to encourage continuous improvement:

1. Test: Run drills and practice realistic scenarios.
2. Review: Identify delays, gaps, outdated information, or unclear responsibilities.
3. Improve: Update the plan, tools, templates, and processes based on what you learn.

Put the Right Communication Tools Behind Your Plan

Clear roles, practiced processes, and reliable communication tools help your team put its crisis communication plan into action.

See how CivicPlus^® Mass Notification helps local governments reach residents across multiple channels and support faster, more coordinated emergency communication.