As Hurricane Isaac heads towards the U.S. coastline, Arbitron has shed some light on its contingency plans for handling ratings in disaster areas.

The ratings provider has special procedures in place to continue the survey process during natural disasters and other crisis situations.

The company monitors market conditions, including listening to survey respondents and Portable People Meter panelists, and implements contingency plans when necessary.

If a natural disaster or crisis occurs, stations should report any technical difficulties or unencoded intervals that last for five or more consecutive minutes. Broadcasters in diary markets should contact Radio Station Relations, and encoding stations in PPM markets should contact Encoding Operations.

With its client stations, Arbitron can discuss how it credits temporary simulcasting.

As the company has before, once the natural disaster has passed and/or the crisis situation is resolved, Arbitron will assess the market and update its stations as needed.