Report: Disaster Preparedness Lessons from Hurricane Sandy

LEESBURG, Va., Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnilert®, LLC today released results from a post-event survey featuring insights and lessons learned after Hurricane Sandy. The survey respondents represented schools, businesses, non-profits, and government agencies from the company's Amerilert and e2Campus services. The online survey was conducted on November 2-15, 2012 with a sample of 164 customers participating.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121207/PH26083)

For details and discussion of lessons, the free report titled Customer Insights Survey: Hurricane Sandy's Impact & Lessons Learned can be downloaded at www.omnilert.com/sandysurvey.

Key Lessons Learned
Overall, Omnilert's customers were well prepared for the storm. These are organizations that have active emergency preparedness programs in place and have implemented the e2Campus and Amerilert multi-modal emergency notification systems to facilitate interactive communication across a variety of media: SMS text messaging, email, voice messages, social media, desktop alerts, PA systems, digital signage, and more. A summary of the preparedness lessons learned include:

• Predefine contingencies
• Take forecasts seriously
• Update your data before an event occurs
• Secure materials and supplies in advance
• Spring into action quickly
• Encourage personal preparedness
• Send clear, simple and frequent communications
• Tailor messages to the medium
• Multimodal communications are crucial
• Don't panic: Prepare for the worst and hope for the best

Sandy's Impact
About half of the survey respondents reported direct disruptions to their operations from the storm. Fortunately, only 6.8 percent reported significant and continuing major disruptions. About one fifth (19.3 percent) experienced major disruptions during the storm but minor aftereffects. The remaining 23.6 percent experienced only minor disruptions during the storm.

Where Sandy struck, the numbers of people affected tended to be large. Of the customers who told us they were impacted by the storm, about half (50.6 percent) had more than 1,000 people affected and 17.7 percent had 5,000 or more of their people affected. The most serious lingering disruptions were caused by flooding, water leaks, and extended power outages.

"This survey reinforces the importance of utilizing as many forms of communications possible to keep communities safe, informed, and aware of the situation," noted Ara Bagdasarian, CEO of Omnilert. "We take every opportunity to facilitate the sharing of best practices with our customers so we can all be prepared for any emergency scenario that may ensue."

Even in areas unaffected directly by the storm, respondents felt the impact. Many used the event for training and emergency preparedness drills. One explained, "We took the opportunity to put the Super Storm Sandy information into drills and training scenarios."

About Omnilert
Omnilert, LLC develops intuitive communication technologies that keep communities safe and connected. The company's flagship service is a Tier-1 interactive unified mass notification system that enables a single person to communicate critical information to thousands of people anywhere, anytime, on any device or service. This affords better crisis communications, emergency management, business continuity, and disaster recovery. The award-winning company's 9,000 clients include the U.S. Army, Verizon Wireless, Bayer, Mazda, Arizona State University, Penn State, Marine Corps Marathon, YMCA, American Red Cross, and UNICEF. Omnilert solutions are sold under the brand names e2Campus, Amerilert, and RainedOut. The privately held company is headquartered in Leesburg, Va., and at www.omnilert.com online.

Available Topic Expert: For information on the listed expert, click appropriate link.
Ara Bagdasarian| https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=74080

SOURCE Omnilert, LLC