A website 'YouveBeenLeftBehind.com' for $40 fee "gives you one last opportunity to reach your lost family and friends For Christ" by sending an e-mail at the Second Coming. According to the website "there will be a small window of time where they might be reached for the kingdom of God".
The issue of the size of an incident that an organisation decides to plan for (sometimes termed 'Maximum Survivable Incident') should always be clear in a Business Continuity strategy. The site's creator told the Guardian "The web team is spread out as far apart in the US as is possible to prevent against more than one member being taken out by attack, natural disaster or epidemic". Clearly this website believes that there is a good chance that its servers and the web will survive (at least for a while) the "Rapture" in the US long enough for the messages to be delivered. Though it is questionable that the potential recipients will be sitting at their PCs when the alternative is viewing the spectacle of heavenly choirs and trumpets. (Information from the Guardian, June 16, 2008)
The Chelsea Building Society who has offices in Cheltenham found a novel way to cope with the failure of mains water following the flooding of a water treatment works. Finding that there was water in the soakaways around the building, they bought a fire engine on e-bay to pump the water out and into the tanks so they could flush the toilets. Any idea what they could do with it now?
A possum exploded on a powerline in Wairarapa, New Zealand, leaving thousands of homes without power and causing electricity to arc through the air blowing up a nearby water main. (The Guardian, May 31, 2007).
Does it sound like a believable scenario for a Business Continuity Exercise involving loss of services to a building (at least in New Zealand)?
Homes were evacuated, power lines were cut and emergency services were inundated with calls yesterday after parts of Kent were shaken by an unusual British occurrence - an earthquake. The tremor, which measured 4.3 on the Richter scale, struck just after 8.15am. (The Observer, Sunday April 29, 2007)
While earthquakes are rare in the UK, they are not uncommon. Substantial damage was was caused in SE England by quakes in 1382 and 1580 and less damaging ones occurred in 1776 and 1950. Other hotspots include the Pennines, North Wales and Central Scotland - from Glasgow to Comrie (known locally as 'Shakey Toun').
Great Yarmouth, England - The streets were paved with SEMOLINA this week when more than two tonnes of the grain billowed out of a silo and scattered over the Norfolk Town. Firstly there was a fine dusting of the coarsely ground covering the area, but when council workers tried to wash it away with water, the sodden semolina turned into a gooey pudding mess. Blobs of the dessert clotted in corners and over kerbstones and caused a bit of chaos. Pavements had to be closed as the wet semolina turned them into an ice rink. (The Guardian, October 30, 2006)
It is over a year since the explosion at the Buncefield Oil Terminal. Nearly all the companies are still in business but many are apprehensive as the anniversary approaches since they purchased insurance with a one year indemnity period. Insurance payouts covering extra costs of operating from temporary premises, extra transport costs and overtime ceased in December yet it has not yet been decided whether to rebuild many of the premises nearest to the terminal.
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