Located in the Gulf of Mexico, Galveston Island is one of the most popular beach destinations in Texas. With a population of nearly 60,000, Galveston is famous for the landmark tragedy, the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which resulted in more than 6,000 fatalities. Following the natural disaster, the city built its famous 10- mile long, 17-foot high seawall to withstand future storm surges. The seawall was one of the many steps city of Galveston officials took to improve their hurricane preparedness since the Hurricane of 1900. City officials try to stay up-to-date with their technology to combat hurricanes and other forms of severe weather.
Case Study Problem
On Sept. 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island, causing at least 82 fatalities and accounting for more than $27 billion in damages. Besides the seawall, city officials took more modern steps to improve hurricane preparedness, however those steps have since become out-of-date. The city was using communication strategies such as maintaining large, labor-intensive call lists to communicate during emergencies.
Case Study Solution For Improved Hurricane Preparedness
The Everbridge system provided the performance, reliability, speed, and ease of use the City of Galveston needed to keep its residents informed throughout hurricane Ike. Everbridge features such as automatic escalation and the ability to leverage multiple contact paths allowed Galveston officials to bring their hurricane preparedness efforts into the 21st century.
“Living on the coast, hurricane evacuations are a matter of life and death. The Everbridge system allowed us to quickly contact thousands of residents who were affected by Hurricane Ike, rapidly communicating warnings and madatory evacuation orders within minutes was critical for public safety as Hurricane Ike approached Galveston Isand.”
– Alicia Cahill, City of Galveston
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