Natural and human-caused disasters can strike suddenly anytime, anywhere. What would you do if basic services — water, gas, electricity or telephones — were cut off?

With March being American Red Cross Month, there’s no better time to think about it.




The Red Cross recommends:

• • preparing an emergency kit with basic supplies, such as water, non-perishable food items, a battery-powered radio, copies of personal documents and emergency contact info.

• • discussing with your family how to prepare for and respond to the emergencies most likely to happen where you live, learn, work and play.

• • learning what disasters or emergencies may occur in your area.

OnStar Crisis Assist can help

When severe weather, natural disaster or other emergencies strike, OnStar Crisis Assist can put you in touch with family and friends, or let them know you’re safe by registering you on the Red Cross Safe and Well Web site.

OnStar’s Crisis Assist team will work with you to:

• • contact emergency responders, if needed, and direct them to your location using GPS satellite technology.

• • provide real-time crisis information and centralized assistance for food, water and hotel accommodations along with info on road closures, power outages and weather updates.

• • find available shelters from the Red Cross database and guide you to these locations.

Crisis Assist also lets you take advantage of all OnStar services — at no additional charge, no matter what service plan you have — if you’re in a designated crisis area.

Learn more about how OnStar’s Crisis Assist service works, and read how it helped subscribers when they needed it most, here.

The American Red Cross name and emblem are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, opinion or political position.

I’m currently an Emergency and Crisis Assist Advisor and have been with OnStar for nine and a half years. During crises like hurricanes, floods and forest fires, I help our customers with their particular situations. Let’s say during a hurricane when a city is being evacuated — I help them get out of the city and direct them to hotels, food and gas. Basically, whatever they need, we make sure they get it.

One instance I remember vividly was during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Some folks contacted us who were in a desperate situation. They were trying to get people out of a hospital, which was located in a pretty rough area. Since they had heard some gunshots they were concerned about their safety. We contacted the local police and explained the situation. We helped the two parties get together so they could coordinate their efforts. As a result, the folks helped get the people who were in the hospital to safety.

Another situation that occurred during Hurricane Katrina was when the city was being evacuated. The line of cars heading out of New Orleans was sometimes as long as five or six miles. The wait was so long that some people were starting to run out of gas. We were in touch with our subscribers and directed them to gas stations that still had gas available. We also told them when gas would be delivered to certain stations nearby.

And about six months ago, during the forest fires in California, one of our subscribers was in an area that was just about to be hit. We gave him an evacuation route and directions to where he needed to go. We stayed on the phone with him the whole time and talked to him all along the way until he reached his destination. Those are the stories you always remember.

This job is so rewarding. I just love the fact that I’m there to help our subscribers out of their crises. It’s so satisfying being able to get them to safe locations, out of harm’s way.

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Crisis Assist is a valuable service we offer our subscribers in addition to many other OnStar services. Advisors are trained to help subscribers get through a variety of disasters, direct them to food and shelter, and help keep them in touch with loved ones. We assist them through all sorts of disasters — hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, tornados, flooding, winter storms and even man-made crises like toxic chemical spills.

One of the most valuable aspects of our program is that we anticipate disasters. Our team of experts constantly monitor events around the country. So we not only know when to expect a disaster to hit, we determine how many of our subscribers will be affected. Then we do some early communication by sending emails about what to expect and OnStar services that can get them through a crisis.

Predicting what our subscribers will ask for is critical. Based on previous history, we know their needs — shelter and how to get there, concerns for their pets, and how to get in touch with friends and family members. That’s why we offer subscribers extra Hands-Free minutes, free of charge, so they can let loved ones know they’re safe.

Here’s an example of how we react to a crisis situation. If a disaster is going to hit four counties in Texas, we determine how many subscribers will be affected. Let’s say it’s 100,000 people. We know if 100,000 people will need assistance, X number of Advisors will be needed to handle the crisis situation. If the disaster is bigger than anticipated, we have ways to make sure Advisors are available to handle all the calls.

We also have an exceptionally good relationship with all the states and their various agencies. If there’s a crisis, local authorities let us know, for example, the best route to get to a shelter. But if we learn from our subscribers that the road has been washed away, we can let the authorities know this and they can advise an alternate route.

One subscriber decided to ride out Hurricane Ike when it hit Galveston last year. When he went out to his truck, he saw sheer devastation everywhere. He contacted us and we got him to safety. Since we gave him extra Hands-Free minutes, he kept connected with his family and let them know he was OK. He said, “Thank you OnStar, you guys help save lives.” There are so many stories like that.

This is probably one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. It’s not just cool technology, it’s technology that actually benefits people. When I go home at night, I feel good that we made a difference in someone’s life. You can’t put a dollar amount a feeling like that.

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The poll, conducted as part of the National Hurricane Survival Initiative, had some alarming results for emergency management officials:

• • 83% said they have not taken steps in the past year to make their homes stronger.
• • 66% have no hurricane survival kit.
• • 62% don’t feel vulnerable to a hurricane or related tornado or flooding.
• • 55% do not have a family disaster plan.

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) predicts the 2009 hurricane season will be near normal, with a 70% chance of having between 9 and 14 named storms. Of those, 4 to 7 storms could become hurricanes, including 1 to 3 major hurricanes — Category 3, 4 or 5. Clearly, if you’re one of the 35 million Americans who live in regions most threatened by Atlantic hurricanes, it’s time to prepare for the worst.

The map below displays all of the calls OnStar received when Hurricane Gustav hit the Texas Gulf Coast area in August of 2008. Blue dots represent each time a subscriber pushed their Blue Button and red dots represent Emergency button pushes.

Know the difference between a hurricane watch and warning.

If you are under a hurricane watch, hurricane conditions are a threat within 36 hours. You should review your hurricane plans, keep informed and be ready to act if a warning is issued. A hurricane warning means hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours. Complete your storm preparations and leave the area if directed to do so by authorities.

Here’s what you should do:

• • Listen to NOAA Weather Radio for information from the National Weather Service.
• • Bring in anything that can be picked up by the wind (bicycles, lawn furniture).
• • Close windows, doors and hurricane shutters. If you don’t have hurricane shutters, board up all windows and doors with plywood.
• • Turn off propane tanks and unplug small appliances.
• • Fill your car’s gas tank.
• • Create an evacuation plan for your family. Identify two meeting places — one near your home, and one outside your area in case you can’t return home. Select an out-of-area emergency contact person.
• • Make plans for your pets.
• • Evacuate if advised by authorities.

Here’s what supplies you need:

• • At least a 3-day supply of easy-to-prepare, non-perishable food, and 1 gallon of water per person per day.
• • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather radio, if possible).
• • Manual can opener.
• • Flashlight, extra batteries.
• • First-aid kit.
• • 7-day supply of any medications and medical items (hearing aid batteries, glasses, etc).
• • Personal hygiene items.
• • Copies of personal documents (medical information and proof of address, deed or lease to home, birth certificates, insurance policies, etc).
• • Family and emergency contact information.
• • Extra cash.
• • Extra clothing, rain gear and sturdy shoes.
• • Insect repellent.

OnStar and the American Red Cross

As part of Crisis Assist, OnStar Advisors can also help register subscribers on the American Red Cross Safe and Well Web site (redcross.org) so friends and families know they are safe. During a hurricane, OnStar can quickly access Red Cross online crisis services information to direct subscribers to open shelters, feeding sites and other disaster services and save them from making an additional call to the Red Cross. OnStar and the Red Cross first partnered during the 2007 hurricane season to provide disaster relief information to OnStar subscribers in or near affected areas.

For more information about being prepared during hurricane season, visit redcross.org.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Ken and Cynthia Logan had to evacuate their home in Slidell, La., last year when Hurricane Gustav started to rear its ugly head.

The highway had slowed to a crawl, but they didn’t panic. Ken pushed the OnStar button and asked for help. “All we had to do was contact the OnStar Advisor and tell her where we wanted to go. She told us what the situation was, gave us an alternate route, even told us where we could get gas and food along the way. Thanks to OnStar Crisis Assist, we got out of the area two to three times faster than others we later talked to, and we were always able to let our kids know what was going on and where we were.”

Cynthia really appreciated the personal contact from the Advisors. “Besides giving you directions, they ask how you’re doing, how you’re feeling, they tell us not to worry, that they’ll be with us through the whole thing — that we’re not alone. That’s a major comfort.”

Cynthia says Hands-Free Calling was especially welcome during and after the Logans evacuated. “When we were leaving to escape Gustav, we called our neighbors and gave them our OnStar phone number and we were able to keep in touch with each other. That feeling of staying connected is so important. And the OnStar cell connection always worked — I’ve never had it not work.”

Back in 2005, the Logan’s had just moved into their Slidell home two days before Hurrricane Katrina struck. That time they didn’t have OnStar.

“With Katrina we were relying on maps and just trying to find our way around,” Ken says. “It was very stressful. I knew we had to be better prepared before the next hurricane. With OnStar you get a live person to talk to, someone who can respond to the problems you’re facing at that very moment. They know where you are. We knew we could hit that button and have someone help us find our way around unexpected detours, obstacles, all those sorts of things.”

“I believe OnStar has saved many marriages,” Cynthia says.

The Logans thankfully got through Gustav relatively unscathed. Ken says they will always make sure they have OnStar. “When you live in an area that you might have to evacuate anytime from June to November, you’d be crazy not to be as prepared as possible. And OnStar Crisis Assist is a pretty good way to be prepared.”

OnStar Crisis Assist in a Natural Disaster

In natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, all OnStar services are made available to all subscribers in the area — regardless of their service plan — at no extra cost. Just push the red OnStar emergency button and a specially trained Crisis Assist Advisor can pinpoint your location and provide:

• Up-to-date evacuation routes
• Emergency shelter locations
• Central locations for food, water and medical supplies

OnStar can also request that emergency help be sent to you or connect you to family and friends.

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Beth Jones and her family experienced Hurricane Gustav firsthand. With both landline phones and some cell phone towers not working during the hurricane, Beth and her family relied on OnStar. “My OnStar phone worked fine,” Beth says. “This was the only way we could get word to our families that we were safe, and hear about them as well. Being able to hit the button in the car and reach family meant everything. We sat in line for hours for gas and had no electricity for about six days, but we were not without communication — thanks to OnStar.”

Depend on Crisis Assist in a natural disaster.

During a natural disaster, OnStar Crisis Assist Advisors can help provide you with evacuation routes, emergency shelter, and locations for food, water and medical supplies. OnStar Crisis Assist Advisors can also pinpoint your location using GPS technology and connect you with friends and loved ones at no additional cost — no matter what service plan you have.

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