Gulf and East Coasts Rely on Cooper Notification's Emergency Text Alerting
System
To Coordinate, Inform, and Evacuate and Return Residents during Hurricanes
Gustav and Hanna
SARASOTA, Fla., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- As Hurricane Gustav threatened
devastation rivaling Katrina, causing the largest evacuation in Louisiana
history, Gulf Coast emergency management officials sent over a million text
messages to coordinate efforts among government officials and first
responders, and provide frequent updates on the storm's track, business and
school closings and important information to speed recovery.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080627/CLF049LOGO )
Through the Roam Secure Alert Network(TM) (RSAN(TM)) city, county and
parish officials were able to send targeted alerts, even during power outages,
to the citizens of New Orleans and Jefferson Davis Parish, La. and Newton
County, Miss. Alerts were sent simultaneously via e-mail and text messages to
cell phones, Blackberry(R), pagers and other devices. Utilizing these multiple
channels increases the likelihood each citizen and first responder will
receive the message no matter where they are located or evacuated. RSAN is a
product of Roam Secure, Inc., DBA Cooper Notification, and is protected by
U.S. patent 7,409,428. Cooper Notification is a platform of Cooper
Industries, Ltd., (NYSE: CBE).
Last summer New Orleans launched a city-wide, interoperable, internal and
public emergency text alerting system called NOLA Ready, powered by RSAN. In
preparation for Hurricane Gustav, NOLA Ready helped emergency management
coordinate the evacuation of 95 percent of the city and update their citizens
with the latest Gustav storm-related information, sending more than 500,000
emergency alerts. In addition to notifying the public, the emergency text
alerting system was frequently used to communicate with first responders and
key emergency personnel. To be kept informed during the next emergency,
residents of New Orleans should register for free for at www.NOLAReady.info.
"Gustav was the first major test of our emergency evacuation and planning
procedures since Katrina," said Sheriff Richard Edwards, Jr. of Jefferson
Davis Parish. "JDEPAlert remained operational throughout the storm and related
power outages, and it was critical to the success of our evacuation and
keeping the public informed before, during and after the disaster."
Jefferson Davis Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness (JDEP) utilized
their RSAN system, JDEPAlert, to evacuate residents and let them know when it
was safe to return. Other alerts included bus evacuation schedules and
locations, curfew details, insurance information, business and school
reopening and trash service pickup resumption. Jefferson Davis Parish
residents can sign up for emergency and public awareness alerts at
https://alert.jeffdavis.net.
"Text messaging proves to be a reliable and often used tool for
coordinating government preparations and responses to natural disasters and
keeping the public informed throughout an emergency," said David Drescher,
General Manager, Roam Secure DBA Cooper Notification. "While RSAN also
provides voice dialing capabilities, we continually see text as the
overwhelming means by which our customers communicate with emergency personnel
and the public during major incidents. During a disaster, text is often the
only way to reach people, especially once they evacuate and wait for updates
hundreds of miles away from their home phone." During Hurricane Katrina three
million phone lines were destroyed, but text messaging worked. With more than
one million homes and business currently without power in Louisiana and two
million people on the move, text continues to be a reliable means for reaching
emergency workers and residents.
Although evacuation was not required, Newton County emergency management
activated its RSAN system, Newton Alert, to include a 24x7 incident page on
the website for Gustav where users could log on and see maps and updates on
Gustav's progress and post-landfall movement. Newton County officials also
used RSAN for daily briefings following the storm's landfall. Newton Alert is
currently providing updates to citizens about the next three tropical storms
swirling around the Atlantic, including Hanna, Ike, and Josephine.
To support the Gulf Coast region, several other regions, including
Philadelphia, utilized their RSAN system to activate and deploy Urban, Search
and Rescue teams, first responders and emergency personnel headed to the Gulf
region to assist with recovery efforts.
As Hanna heads up the east coast, Orange County, Fla., Washington D.C.,
Montgomery, Md., Arlington and King George Counties in Virginia, and other
customers began activating their RSAN systems this week to prepare residents
for the potential severe weather event this weekend.
Cooper Notification has deployed over 230 RSAN systems in major
metropolitan areas across the country, including the National Capital Region
(Washington, D.C. metro area), Orlando, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Houston,
San Francisco and more. These systems play an important role in all-hazards
emergency alerting and information sharing among government leadership, first
responders and citizen warning.
About Cooper Notification
Cooper Notification, a solution platform of The Cooper Safety Division, is
comprised of several businesses with decades of experience and innovation in
the development of high quality products and solutions. With the ever present
need to protect, alert and inform, Cooper Notification is focused on meeting
the growing demand for personnel and property safety. We are the source for
notification solutions supporting Fire, Security, Hazardous area, Mass
Notification, Voice evacuation and Industrial Signaling applications and
operating under the powerful global brands of Fulleon, MEDC, Roam Secure,
SAFEPATH, WAVES and Wheelock. For more information, visit the web site at
www.coopernotification.com.
About Cooper Industries
Cooper Industries, Ltd. (NYSE: CBE) is a global manufacturer with 2007
revenues of $5.9 billion, approximately 87% of which are from electrical
products. Founded in 1833, Cooper's sustained level of success is
attributable to a constant focus on innovation, evolving business practices
while maintaining the highest ethical standards, and meeting customer needs.
The Company has eight operating divisions with leading market share positions
and world-class products and brands including: Bussmann electrical and
electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds and CEAG explosion-proof electrical equipment;
Halo and Metalux lighting fixtures; and Kyle and McGraw-Edison power systems
products. With this broad range of products, Cooper is uniquely positioned
for several long-term growth trends including the global infrastructure
build-out, the need to improve the reliability and productivity of the
electric grid, the demand for higher energy-efficient products and the need
for improved electrical safety. In 2007, sixty percent of total sales were to
customers in the industrial and utility end-markets and 34% of total sales
were to customers outside the United States. Cooper, which has more than
31,500 employees and manufacturing facilities in 23 countries as of 2007, is
incorporated in Bermuda with administrative headquarters in Houston, TX. For
more information, visit the web site at www.cooperindustries.com.
For information contact:
Marla Moran
941.487.2300 ext. 2318
marla.moran@cooperindustries.com
SOURCE Cooper Notification
Marla Moran of Cooper Notification, +1-941-487-2300 ext. 2318,
marla.moran@cooperindustries.com
