Effectively Handling Communications During Hurricane Katrina

Despite difficult circumstances, including complete loss of their headquarters and computer systems, the Coast Guard performed magnificently, rescuing more than 33,000 stranded victims. Because of PIER, they were able to communicate non-stop during the entire event.

Background

More than two years later, the words “Hurricane Katrina” still bring to mind thoughts of devastation and pain for many people. It was the costliest hurricane ever to hit the U.S., causing an estimated $82 billion in damage, and one of the five deadliest hurricanes our country has ever faced, taking the lives of at least 1,836 individuals. The state of Louisiana, and New Orleans in particular, faced the brunt of the damage.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 28, 2005, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) 8th District Public Affairs Office was severely impacted. Headquartered in downtown Louisiana, in what would be the heart of the arriving storm, the staff was evacuated to an Air Training Station in Mobile, Alabama, leaving their entire communication infrastructure underwater.

In their new location, which lacked electricity, the Coast Guard was forced to rely on minimal technology to do their job.

Challenge

The Coast Guard’s Public Affairs motto is: "We want to be the best and first source of information." Hurricane Katrina presented a significant challenge to this goal.

In the midst of the devastation following Katrina, there was an insatiable thirst for up-to-the-minute information. In today's instant news world, with multiple news channels that operate around the clock, intense media competition, millions of online journalists, "bloggers", and the widespread use of the Internet to obtain information, every minute is a news cycle. This changing environment created a demand for instant information, and the USCG had to respond.

Operating out of an empty hangar without electricity, the Coast Guard had only minimal technology available, but still had a job to do. In order to track the many residents who needed rescuing, one Guardsman resorted to working by flashlight to scribble down on paper the names and location of people in need of rescue. A photo of this scene was snapped by a Public Affairs Officer with a digital camera and uploaded via laptop and cell modem to the Coast Guard's Public Affairs communication website. That picture, which is found on the first page of this case study, was on the front page of newspapers across the country the next day.

So how did the USCG go from operating with extremely limited technology to working with the media to land positive national media coverage on their response? How was their dispersed Public Affairs (PA) team able to handle communications for a response that was taking place in horrific conditions? And how was the USCG able to walk away from Katrina as the only government agency with not only an untarnished image, but an enhanced reputation, and additional funding through government appropriations? They accomplished this and more by doing the right things and communicating well, even in the most difficult of situations.

Solutions

The Coast Guard uses a web-based communication platform to handle both their daily and critical communication needs. The system, PIER (Public Information Emergency Response), is fully maintained and accessed online, and became the USCG's virtual Joint Information Center (JIC) during the response following Katrina. Since each member of the Public Affairs Team had their own unique login and password for PIER, the PA officers were able to access the same communication management system no matter where they were during the response, at any hour, day or night.

The officer who snapped the photo of his fellow "Coastie" working away with pen and pencil uploaded the image to their PIER site. Using PIER, the image was then distributed to the media outlets stored in their contact database, and the rest is history.

But that is only the beginning. The Coast Guard relied on PIER to conduct push, pull and interactive communications in the aftermath of Katrina.

The Coast Guard’s Public Affairs team "pushed" information out to the media as fast as they could throughout their response. By the end, the USCG had proactively distributed more than 160 news releases, images and updates.

There was a massive demand for information regarding the response during this time, which was unable to be met by the traditional media. Rather than wait for the media to get the message out, people began searching for information themselves. The Coast Guard was able to "pull" people into their website by providing a central location to find critical information. The 8th District’s PIER site received more than two million hits from people seeking information on family members and updates on the response.

The PA team also used PIER to track, manage and respond to the hundreds of inquiries they received from concerned citizens and the media, as well as dozens of requests for interviews with responders in the hours and days following Katrina. Having all of the tools necessary to handle and respond to these incoming requests located on a single, central platform was invaluable to the USCG’s dispersed team of Public Affairs officers.

The November 2006 issue of Homeland Defense Journal listed the "winners" and "losers" of the battle for the Department of Homeland Security's appropriations for the upcoming year. In the article, the Coast Guard was praised for its successful response during one of the nation’s darkest moments. As a result, Homeland Security rewarded the Coast Guard with $1.7 billion in government appropriations.

The USCG earned a good reputation for their response to Hurricane Katrina for two reasons: their success in doing the right thing, and their ability to let others know about it. The Coast Guard rescued more than 33,000 people in horrible circumstances following Hurricane Katrina; Congress recognized their response with an official entry in the Congressional Record. The overwhelmingly positive reaction by Congress, the media and the American public to the USCG's efforts during Katrina underlined their success in not only doing their job well, but being able to communicate about it to people all around the world. This was possible thanks to the communication solutions PIER offered.

Key Benefits

• Ability to operate as the USCG’s virtual Joint Information Center (JIC), providing the Coast Guard’s Public Affairs Team access anytime and anywhere
• Lists of contacts (media, government, etc.) maintained online, accessible to entire Public Affairs team via unique user ID and password
• Ability to “push” information out to stakeholders: distributed press releases, photos and videos of their response
• Ability to “pull” those looking for information to their website: provided a central location for people to obtain critical response information
• Tracked, managed and responded to hundreds of distinct inquiries from media and the public
• Ability to manage internal and external communications, even with entire IT infrastructure buried underwater
• PIER sites hosted on robust servers allowed USCG websites to withstand extremely high hit rates in the hours and days following Katrina
• Servers located off-site allowed the USCG’s communication tools, including contact databases, press release templates and more, to remain unaffected even in the midst of one of the nation’s most severe storms
• PIER site used for emergency communications customized to match USCG’s standard website appearance

Results

Thanks to PIER Systems, and their online communication tools, the United States Coast Guard continues to be able to keep stakeholders updated on their rescue efforts all around the world, everyday.

Additional Information

For more information on the United States Coast Guard, visit www.uscg.mil.