Onestorm-Hurricane planning program

[LaPlaceFF]

Has anyone checked this out. I think it is a excellent planning tool.

http://www.onestorm.com

They are one of the sponsors for the Hurricane conference.

[LaPlaceFF]

bump-Let me know what yall think.

[Dionne]

It appears to be a good tool for those that have never been in a hurricane. Although for those of us that experienced Katrina.....it's old information. I would hope that most of us know what to do this time around. Let me re-phrase that......we knew what to do....some of us just didn't follow through. I can now summarize my hurricane plan in two words; Evacuate early.

[SouthFloridawx]

Has anyone checked this out. I think it is a excellent planning tool.

http://www.onestorm.com

They are one of the sponsors for the Hurricane conference.

Now that is a good idea... thanks for the post. I think most people living in hurricane prone areas should take a look at that. The developers of that program really thought it through to make things easy for the user.

[LaPlaceFF]

I just registered on this site. It is a great planning tool. It takes your plan and makes you a hard copy that you can print out.

[WhiteShirt]

Great tool! I'm using this and sharing it with family and friends. Thanks for posting it.

[onestorm]

Great tool! I'm using this and sharing it with family and friends. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for highlighting our free tool and for the positive comments We're doing our best to continue improving it - suggestions are always appreciated!

Stay safe and prepared through the storm.

Best,
Chris

[HurricaneJim]

I am very very suspicious of this. It smells like marketing forces are behind it. You're asking for a lot of personnal data. Someone's funding this and that's not made apparent. The 'Occasional e-mail from our sponsors" is a dead give away.

After what I saw happen in NOLA, I advise clients to keep quiet about any preparedness plans they have or items they have stockpiled.

FEMA, Red Cross and others have much the same information AND teach you how to come up with a plan yourself. I advise clients on this and we start with doing a threat analysis for their area which then gets folded into an indexed binder of the various contingencies for each threat.

Neither require you to input any personnal data.


Jim
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanejim
http://www.myspace.com/stormchasetroopers


NAVY WAM LINK
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WAM/all_natl.html

[onestorm]

Jim,

I understand your concern in this day over the sharing of personal information. I am posting this response with the intention of being 100% transparent in why we collect what we do and how we use it. I hope this reassures everyone of our intentions to prepare as many people as possible for the hurricane season.

First, for the most sensitive of personal information, such as Medications, Special Needs and Dietary Needs, we give members the option to "print an offline form instead" rather than storing it in our database. The volunteering of this information is purely self-selection.

Second, we collect and store information such as you address and age to do things like the following:
- Notify members by email if they are in a storms path
- Notify them of the nearest open shelters
- Educate them on their exact flood risk
- Share (if opting in) their needs with local emergency management

Third, by creating an account and acknowledging if you have or don't have each preparedness item, we create a printable shopping list of everything you don't have. This feature is considered to be one of the most valuable to our members.

Fourth, we work WITH organizations such as the Red Cross, FEMA, and EM experts such as Frank Reddish to continually improve the site and further their interests. In fact, FloridaDisaster.org is an effort that was in-part based on our system which came first. We're not trying to replace other sites or tell others not to visit them, but instead offer another outlet for preparedness.

Fifth, yes we are a private-sector, for-profit company. Our revenue sources are NOT from exploiting the personal data of our members, but rather providing business continuity and corporate preparedness reporting to for-profit businesses. We offer the retail product for free since we do not believe creating a financial barrier for families to prepare for severe weather is an ethical thing to do. Please see our mission statement for more on this:

https://www.onestorm.org/Philosophy.aspx

Sixth, we have opt-in (which means you can easily opt-out) questions such as "receive coupons" or "third-party communications." If we are approached for example by a bottled water company AND you opted to receive this message, the money in return helps keep us in business -- Note that we have not made $1 to this date from such opportunities to this date.

Seventh, we consider our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions which state that we will not violate the above rules to be "law" and would expect our users to hold us accountable if we violated their privacy.

Lastly, how and where you prepare is your free choice. Even after my explanation, you still don't have to subscribe to our mission. However, in the words of our Governor at the FL Hurricane Conference, let's not create barriers to letting private-sector efforts aid the government in areas where help is needed. Preparedness is a team effort, and we are paving the way to be the best player and help as many people as possible.

You may contact me personally at chris.bennett@post.harvard.edu or at (727)341-0826 where I would be happy to follow up with any questions or concerns.

Best,
Chris
Founder, OneStorm.org

[HurricaneJim]

Hi Chris,

Thank you very much for that detailed response. It sheds a great deal of light on your operation, which for those who choose to use it seems to be a well run service.

In this day and age, it is prudent to be concerned with having personnal information stored online. When they routinely hack blue chip operations and steal data, it is a very real issue.

That said, upon reflection, I can see where clients who have very full schedules could benefit from this...as in custom information sent directly to them in a "Heads Up" format.

I will, however, continue to advise my clients that situational awareness is their responsibility and any additional layers they add to their intel flow is just one more thing that could fail. As I put it to them, "YOU are the real First Responder. Everyone else is coming in second and third." and "NEVER sub-contract your immediate security to outsiders." (and that includes my clients who have full time security details...Tier one starts at their nightstand and the bedroom door.)


Jim
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanejim
http://www.myspace.com/stormchasetroopers


NAVY WAM LINK
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WAM/all_natl.html

[HurricaneJim]

...that said...

I can see where a working family could really benefit from this, in that all they have to do is take a moment away from juggling the full time responsibilities of children, work, etc and have a plan generated for them based on what they input.

THAT is a big plus.

We do a similar job, I just sit across from them while I'm doing it.


Jim
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanejim
http://www.myspace.com/stormchasetroopers


NAVY WAM LINK
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WAM/all_natl.html

[onestorm]

Thanks Jim.

I completely agree with your thoughts on the level of concern we must have for sharing personal information. We do our best to only collect information that is tied to a benefit for our members.

And you're right, for a busy family or working professional, having a shopping list, your evacuation zone, flood risk, etc. all in one place is a huge time saver.

We welcome suggestions on how to continually improve our process. Have a safe hurricane season.

Best,
Chris

[HurricaneJim]

Thanks Chris...but if we're safe, we ain't working!

Jim
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanejim
http://www.myspace.com/stormchasetroopers


NAVY WAM LINK
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WAM/all_natl.html

[NFLDART]

Thanks Chris...but if we're safe, we ain't working!

Jim
http://www.myspace.com/hurricanejim
http://www.myspace.com/stormchasetroopers


NAVY WAM LINK
https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/PUBLIC/WAM/all_natl.html

I Love that quote Jim...