NEW ORLEANS — By standing firm and holding its 41st convention in a city trying to recover from a devastating flood, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics provided New Orleans with a much-needed economic boost.

In turn, the city provided a fitting setting for one of the gathering’s most engaging sessions: "Planning for the Next Natural Disaster."

New Orleans’ plight in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 — when 80 percent of the city was flooded — is well documented. Athletics departments at institutions within the city limits were forced to make adjustments impacting student-athletes, coaches and support staff — and safety was the first and foremost consideration.

An athletics director with extensive experience in dealing with natural disasters told session participants that preparation is the key.

Planning needs to be precise, because in many situations, there is no warning, said Rick Mello, director of athletics at Florida International University, who has dealt during his administrative career with everything from an earthquake in California to one of history’s worst hurricanes in Florida to crippling ice storms in Arkansas.

Through it all, Mello has seen well-executed plans, as well as plans that fell apart.

Mello, who was joined in the panel discussion by Mike Womack, deputy director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Association, suggested that natural disasters aren’t the only occurrences that can hamper an athletics department. A power outage or a hazardous spill on or near a campus can have similar effects. In this day and age, the possibility of a terrorist attack also merits attention — no matter an institution’s size.

But Mello drew from his own experiences, which includes mudslides while he worked at the University of California, Los Angeles, during the 1980s; the 7.1 earthquake that struck in the San Francisco Bay Area and disrupted the 1989 World Series while he was at the University of California, Berkeley; and the devastation of south Florida by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 while he was on the staff at the University of Miami.

He also experienced ice storms at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, that left the area without power for weeks, and most recently managed the fallout at his current campus last October when Hurricane Wilma ripped through Florida.

Mello said three factors are absolutely critical when it comes to being prepared.

First, it is important to develop a plan before an incident takes place.

"It is important that there is buy-in from institution leaders, and you have to plan to be 100 percent self-sufficient because you never know what the event is going to bring you," Mello said. "One thing I can say about the plan is you are not going to be able to deviate and change once the crisis commences."

This doesn’t mean leaders won’t have to adjust to certain situations, but he said the absolute core of the plan has to be based on sound principles.

The second critical component of being prepared is shaping the mindset of the support staff. Experience taught Mello that this is the most difficult aspect of dealing with natural disasters.

"When people signed on to get into this profession, the absolute basis of their responsibility is to care for the student-athletes on your campus above all else," Mello said.

Mello said his support staff at Florida International, which is located in Miami, makes sure their own families are prepared beforehand, because they know that when it is safe to return to campus, they will turn their focus to the safety and security of student-athletes.

The third important factor is putting the right people in the right place. This doesn’t necessarily mean following the same organizational chart the athletics department operates under in normal conditions.

"The pressure of everyday work is very different from pressure in a crisis," Mello said. "If you have a staff member who in your heart you know does a very good job but may have a family situation or personality makeup that could show they wouldn’t do well in a crisis, you had better put them in a spot where they can succeed."

If people aren’t in the right positions, the plan has less chance to succeed. Mello warns that if student-athletes feel they have been failed during a time of crisis, regaining their respect will be difficult.

Part of being prepared includes dialogue between the athletics director and various agencies, such as the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Defining the lines of communication within the leadership of the institution is imperative. Most likely, normal lines of communication will be disrupted, so it is important to have people designated for particular tasks.

In the recovery phase of the plan, Mello suggests the training room as the best place to establish a staging area for the athletics department. More often than not, only one generator will be available when electricity is out. In the training room, ice and drinking water can be produced.

After Hurricane Wilma, two of Florida International’s football coaches had infant children who had allergies and could only be fed a certain formula, which needed to be refrigerated. By having the ability to create ice, parents were able to feed their children.

"Ice is gold in a disaster," Mello said. "If you run out of drinking water, you can make ice."

Overcoming mental obstacles is another factor that shouldn’t be ignored. Mello believes picking up debris as soon as possible does wonders for everyone’s psyche.

"Nothing is more mentally debilitating for a student-athlete and your staff than seeing piles of refuge and trash sitting around," Mello said. "Nothing impedes a return to normalcy more than that. Once you find that everyone is safe, get the place cleaned up."

Thinking through contingencies will help when adjustments need to be made.

The Sun Belt Conference, of which Florida International is a member, is in the process of creating a document that covers every institution in the league.