Blackboard helped local governments, K-12 schools and college campuses prepare for managing communications during severe storms. To get ready, education and government leaders are using Blackboard’s mass notification services to send alerts and safety instructions to their entire communities within minutes even if areas are evacuated.
Blackboard helped local governments, K-12 schools and college campuses prepare for managing communications during severe storms. To get ready, education and government leaders are using Blackboard's mass notification services to send alerts and safety instructions to their entire communities within minutes even if areas are evacuated.
Onslow County, North Carolina, home to more than 170,000 residents on the state's Atlantic Coast, has a communication plan in place for this year's hurricane season. The county has used the Blackboard platform during dozens of severe weather incidents, including tropical storms and hurricanes, to send critical messages including preparation tips, evacuation alerts, all-clear messages, volunteer updates and recovery updates.
"Constant and consistent updates can help reduce confusion and reassure the community in the event of a hurricane," said Lisa Whitman-Grace, Onslow County's Public Information Officer. "The Blackboard system has been a critical component of our emergency preparedness and response efforts during hurricane season, and throughout the year. We conduct routine tests of the system to make sure residents are prepared to receive urgent information."
"Effective communication is critical to ensure a swift and successful response during hurricanes and other tropical storms," said Ed Miller, President of Blackboard Connect. "The Blackboard platform has been the mass notification service for local communities and we take pride in the fact that we have proven our speed and reliability time and again during hurricane season."
As the recent spate of tornadoes and storms across the Southeast demonstrated, severe summer weather is not limited to hurricanes. Blackboard mass notification clients have sent nearly 3-million messages as they deal with the aftermath of tornadoes, with automated weather alerts, all-clear messages, boil-water notices, debris removal notices and relief aid information.
After tornadoes touched down in Alabama's Limestone County School District in April, the district sent several messages using a service of Blackboard to keep parents and staff informed on how the district was responding to the situation. As families dealt with property loss, schools went without power and water, and buses had limited access to certain regions of the county; however the district was able to maintain a sense of calm and urgency in the wake of the storm.