Background

Hurricane Ike was responsible for over 177 deaths and more than $27 billion in damages—the third highest in US history. The PIER (Public Information Emergency Response) System was used by twelve diverse organizations in the Houston region to communicate with the media, the public and both internal and external stakeholders during this event. This case study briefly describes PIER’s use throughout Hurricane Ike, focusing on internal stakeholders.

Challenge

When Hurricane Ike roared ashore in September 2008, the world watched through the eyes of the media. While the networks strove to share the story with the masses, many organizations were faced with a more immediate challenge – how to communicate with their most important stakeholders.

In addition to their physical response activities, responders in the Gulf of Mexico also faced the challenge of keeping key stakeholders (employees, students, family members and others) informed about their critical actions and plans. In many ways this was a greater challenge than what the media faced. It required responders to quickly and accurately deliver specific information to targeted individuals.

Several Houston-area organizations rose to this challenge, effectively meeting this specialized and critical communication need. They used PIER, an internet-based communication management system designed to maximize speed, accuracy and effectiveness of communication in the worst of times.

Organizations using PIER included:

• US Coast Guard
• A Port Authority
• A Major University
• Several Oil Companies
• City and County Governments

In addition to active media engagement, several organizations and businesses in Houston used PIER to reach critical stakeholders. PIER's capability of web posting, email, fax, phone and text delivery of information allowed these organizations to communicate with their most important stakeholders immediately, providing important information to the people who needed it the most.

As Hurricane Ike made landfall, PIER users had already begun posting information on their dedicated PIER sites. Employees, students, shippers and other key stakeholders had immediate access to the latest information that affected them directly. Information was posted on their PIER websites and pushed to them via telephone calls, text messages and emails.

Solutions

One user from a major university in Houston shared that he was able to wait until 48 hours before the storm made landfall in Texas before notifying students, faculty and staff about closing the different campuses around the city. He could wait – and do all he needed to from his home – because he knew that PIER provided him with a fast and reliable way to get his message out.

Throughout Hurricane Ike, PIER users posted and pushed more than 220 different updates to more than 43,000 different stakeholders, and the PIER sites dedicated to providing this information received more than 7.7 million hits from almost 200,000 unique visitors. Through the wind, rain, storm surge and mayhem of Hurricane Ike, PIER users continued to gather important information and provide it to their stakeholders. Continuous updates were posted, sent to individuals, read and responded to. While power went out, phone lines went down, streets flooded and vital services were interrupted, PIER remained fully functional and accessible, allowing responders to maintain clear and direct communication.

Key Benefits

• 12 organizations used PIER, with 18 different PIER control centers and websites
• 7.7 million total site hits
• Over 200,000 unique visitors
• Over 43,000 internal stakeholders received messages directly via text message, text-to-voice phone, email
• Over 3000 stakeholders self registered on websites to receive information updates
• Nearly 1000 inquiries received via website or logged with media, internal and external stakeholders
• All distribution modes used including digital sign board control

Results

One PIER client posted dozens of updates, right through the hurricane, informing hundreds of employees of the status of project locations and offices throughout the Gulf region. Post-Ike this same client utilized PIER's self-registration process to quickly determine every employees' location and status. By the time other organizations were opening their own relief centers, this PIER client was shutting theirs down, and all their employees' needs had been met.

PIER does more than communicate important information to key stakeholders. It also provides capability for these people to respond to the messages by submitting questions or concerns online. PIER captures and tracks these submissions, allowing communicators to deal directly with each concerned individual. Throughout the hurricane, as PIER users delivered messages to their stakeholders, those stakeholders submitted hundreds of inquiries or concerns back through PIER. Using PIER's inquiry management tools, communicators quickly addressed each inquiry, providing a personal response to each one.

When a major university notified thousands of students that classes would be reopening soon, their PIER site began to receive hundreds of inquiries, ranging from questions about test dates to concerns about access from flooded homes. By using PIER's inquiry management tools, these inquiries and concerns were quickly addressed, both individually and in additional releases that provided the information requested by a few people to all the university's stakeholders.

One major oil company set up an employee information site and effectively communicated prior to the storm that this site would be the focal point for information vital to the company’s 30,000 employees. The site was continuously updated and nearly 70 personal inquiries from employees were managed via PIER, from the comfort and safety of an evacuation location.

Because PIER resides completely outside of an organizations’ IT infrastructure and is hosted on geographically dispersed, high volume servers, PIER provides the critical components of Continuity of Operations and business continuity. Access is from any web browser. Many functions of PIER are also accessible via mobile devices such as Blackberries and iPhones.

Communicators using PIER provided important information to their most critical stakeholders quickly and effectively. Whether they were students, parents, employees, vendors or suppliers, the stakeholders got the information they needed, when they needed it. Trust and confidence were built. All with exceptional efficiency and reliability.

Since the year 2000, through multiple hurricanes and other natural or manmade disasters, PIER has empowered users to effectively share their story with their most important stakeholders. Hurricane Ike added to the evidence that PIER helps communicators meet the most critical need of disaster response: clear and effective communications.

Additional Information

To learn more about how top organizations used PIER during Hurricane Ike, read: PIER and Hurricane Ike.