The use of PIER has been highlighted as a best practice for the Washington State Emergency Management Division by FEMA. The implementation of PIER in 2009 has enabled the Washington State EMD to efficiently communicate and manage: post key planning, response and recovery information and real time emergency alerts.

...the new PIER system made a difference in providing real-time updates. “We could get them information faster: when closures were expected to happen, where alternate routes were available, whether special identification was needed in trucks to travel those routes, and whether capacity on those routes was limited and prioritized.” With that information, businesses reconfigured their supply chains, adding extra critical supplies to trucks delivering to communities that would be cut off by a closure and ensuring that citizens had access to commodities, food, water, and critical disaster supplies.

Washington State Teams with Business