Alerts sent during hurricane

Everbridge critical communications systems were used by over 900 counties, cities, businesses, transportation authorities and hospitals in the south-eastern United States to send millions of messages when Hurricane Matthew struck over the course of the weekend of 7–9 October.

Organisations also leveraged the Everbridge platform to communicate to affected employees and customers located in the path of the storm.

Florida’s statewide emergency notification program, AlertFlorida, is powered by Everbridge. During the lead-up to Hurricane Matthew, and throughout the course of the storm, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) leveraged the system for internal communications between members of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT).

It was also used for the distribution of notifications to millions of residents, providing critical alerts and evacuation orders.

The FDEM also embedded an Everbridge employee in the State Emergency Operations Centre for five days to support the state and counties.

The SERT used Everbridge’s Community Engagement application to establish the keyword, FLPREPARES, and encouraged residents and first responders to sign up for alerts by texting the phrase to special number.

This opt-in method provided the state with an additional way to help ensure that its critical messages were being received.

More than 350,000 opt-ins were received in less than 24 hours.

In his press conference regarding the storm, Florida Governor Rick Scott commented that the alerts “can save your life”.

“Our customers demonstrated exceptional preparedness and resiliency during Hurricane Matthew,” said Jaime Ellertson, CEO, Everbridge.

“Time and again we see that having multiple means of engagement is crucial to ensuring that critical safety communications are received, and Hurricane Matthew was no exception.”

Image courtesy US DoD