By SingleSource | July 30, 2020
Last year, our development team built a custom proprietary system, we have coined “Frosty”, which has now become a key component of how we manage our work orders every single day. The technology platform is integrated with the National Weather Channel and allows our users to quickly select target regions and immediately return map location hits of any natural disaster or storm crossed with our current pipeline. We are able to identify properties affected by natural disasters and proactively develop plans to address the situation – giving us more time to action high-risk orders.
Tropical Storms on the Radar
Our Field Services team began tracking Tropical Storm Hanna last week as it was projected to cause major flood devastation to Texas on Saturday or Sunday. Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall on Padre Island, about 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, at about 5 p.m. on Saturday, with winds of 90 m.p.h. The strong winds and rain are expected to cause home flooding, roof damage, mangle trees and major power failure. As of Sunday night the region reported more than 140,000 outages.
On Sunday Governor Abbott announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and President Donald Trump have approved a federal emergency declaration in response to Tropical Storm Hanna. The declaration allows for some federal assistance and reimbursement for evacuation efforts and shelter support.
Earlier this week, we activated a plan to proactively reach out to our vendors and agents assigned to properties in Texas to assess property damage associated with Tropical Storm Hanna. With the help of Frosty, we have discovered the affected counties and have developed plans for our current pipeline in these regions.
Tropical Storm Gonzalo was anticipated to hit multiple Islands in the Caribbean, however it dissipated on Saturday afternoon in the southeast Caribbean, due to dry, stable air. Gonzalo brought heavy rains, but no major damage was reported as of yet. Hurricane watches have been dropped but several islands remain under tropical storm warnings. A tropical storm warning has been discontinued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but warning is in effect for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago and Grenada and its dependencies.