ATLANTA, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With Tropical Storm Ida approaching the central Gulf Coast and threatening Georgia with heavy rain and flooding, AT&T* today announced it stands ready with an arsenal of disaster response equipment and personnel for a quick response post-landfall. To help local consumers and businesses prepare, AT&T is also providing important communications tips for use before, during and after the storm.
AT&T has invested more than $500 million in its Network Disaster Response (NDR) organization, which includes more than 600 technology and equipment trailers that can be quickly deployed anywhere worldwide to respond to a disaster situation, such as a severe hurricane. AT&T invested $145 million in recovery and restoration efforts related to the 2008 hurricanes that included the opening of a third NDR equipment warehouse in the Southeast.
A critical element of AT&T’s efforts to maximize network reliability is its ability to swiftly respond when disaster strikes, made possible by extensive standard pre-season and pre-storm preparations. These include: ongoing readiness drills, topping off fuel at generators positioned at cell sites and switching centers, testing high-capacity back-up batteries, distributing additional extended battery life and portable generators, using natural gas in a portion of permanent generators to eliminate need for refueling, adding capacity to wireless network, and staging of additional emergency response equipment in strategic locations near the anticipated landfall area.
Source: CNNMoney.com (press release)