More than 26,000 new citizen registrations for Nixle alerts in times of crisis

Nixle, LLC, a free provider of informational communication services between government agencies and the communities they serve, received 26,000 new citizen subscribers during two recent natural disasters -- Hurricane Irene and the massive Texas wildfires, Nixle said in a Sept. 15 news release.

In areas affected by these catastrophes, agencies using the Nixle high-performance notification system were able to provide their citizens with real-time warnings, information, and evacuation details.

During the 11-day period from August 23 to September 2, from the identification and eventual landfall of Hurricane Irene and coinciding with the height of the Lone Star state’s wildfires, the vast majority of new subscribers resided in the affected areas.

The state of New Jersey alone had more than 13,000 registrations. Likewise, during that same period, government agencies using the Nixle system sent over 2.1 million email messages and another 1.3 million SMS text messages.

“These recent disasters perfectly illustrate the Nixle communication system being used to its fullest capabilities,” said Eric Liu, Nixle’s CEO. “Government agencies and law enforcement departments were able to instantly connect with their citizens to provide them with needed information and instructions. It is times like these that remind us that no matter where we live, we are not immune from some sort of natural disaster. And when it occurs, it’s an asset to have Nixle around.”

The Pflugerville, TX, police department is a perfect example of a law enforcement agency using Nixle to save lives and keep citizens informed of impending danger, ssaid the news release. In a brief four-hour period one afternoon, it alerted citizens to a growing grass fire, issued a mandatory evacuation, gave directions on where to evacuate to, sent updates and issued assorted precautions.

As critical a job as it performs in emergencies, the Nixle communication system is used every day by public safety agencies across the country to distribute information such as traffic alerts, safety tips, crime information, community outreach programs and general civic affairs. Messages always come with a priority level, so receivers can instantly know the severity of the message.

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