ContactRelief Hurricane Recommendations For Contact Centers

ContactRelief is making public its recommendations made to subscribers Thursday, September 21st, for outbound contact to consumers in regions affected by Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Havey, and Hurricane (and now Tropical Storm) Jose.

To obtain the list of zip codes that should remain suspended, see the information at the end of this article.

Hurricane Maria Update

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday less than two weeks after Hurricane Irma ravaged the area. Flash flood warnings continue in portions of Puerto Rico due to persistent heavy rainfall from Maria's trailing rainbands. The National Hurricane Center said in its 8 AM advisory that "Everyone in Puerto Rico should continue to follow advice from local officials to avoid these life-threatening flooding conditions."

Swells from Maria are expected to begin reaching the coast of the southeastern United States today. These swells are likely to cause dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents along the coast for the next several days, even with Maria forecast to remain well offshore over the western Atlantic Ocean.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John likely had the most extensive damage. However, severe power outages were reported across the islands including total outage for St. Croix. Restoration of power is expected to take weeks if not months.

Puerto Rico took a direct hit from Category 4 Hurricane Maria and local officials said the island was "destroyed" by the storm. The storm dumped over 2 feet of rain and impacted the island with a powerful storm surge and 155 MPH winds, flooding many neighborhoods and destroying or damaging what didn't flood.

Power is out across the island hampering recovery efforts. Restoration of power is expected to take weeks if not months. The island already faced a severe financial crisis and full recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria is expected to take years.

Given the extreme damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean, contact centers should anticipate suspending contact with the region for an extended period and to be unable to contact many consumers after contact with the region is resumed. We highly recommend that you implement skills-based routing for contact to and from the region and develop special programs to handle interactions with the affected consumers.

Hurricane Maria Recommendations

A previous recommendation to suspend contact with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands remains in effect.

Hurricane Irma Update

The ContactRelief Disaster Decision Team continues to perform county by county damage assessments for Florida counties. Insurance claims have risen dramatically over the last few days as homeowners begin the recovery process. We are maintaining contact suspensions over the southwestern region and the Florida Keys where the damage was the heaviest. Our damage assessment process has identified neighborhoods with significant damage, and we are recommending continued suspension of contact to zip codes to these neighborhoods.

Hurricane Irma Recommendations

ContactRelief is recommending resumption of contact with additional Florida counties except for specified zip codes where significant wind or flood damage has been reported. We expect to resume additional counties each day this week with zip code exclusions. Managing contact with Florida consumers will require a targeted approach for some time to come. It is critical that you obtain the full ContactRelief recommendations which include the list of zip codes which should remain suspended during this period. Contact sales@contactrelief.com for more information.

Contact should be resumed in Florida counties (except specified zip codes): Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Highlands, Lake, Lee, Orange, Osceola, Sarasota, Seminole.

A previous recommendation to resume contact remains in effect for Florida counties: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Santa Rosa, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington.

A previous recommendation to suspend contact remains in effect for Florida counties: Collier, Hendry, Monroe, Polk.

A previous recommendation to suspend contact with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands remains in effect.

Hurricane Harvey Update

Restoration efforts across the state of Texas have picked up steam with debris removal from heavily flooded Houston and Beaumont being the most obvious sign. However, full recovery is expected to take many months and be dependent on the availability of federal relief funds.

We currently maintain contact suspensions on only two counties, Aransas and Calhoun, where the storm made its initial landfall. Power is fully restored to both regions and we expect to lift this suspension on Sunday, September 30th, having provided 30 days of contact relief to this hard-hit region.

Hurricane Harvey Recommendations

A previous recommendation to suspend contact remains in effect for Texas counties: Aransas, Calhoun.

Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Jose Update

Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Jose has been sitting off the coast of southern New England for days causing Tropical Storm Warnings to be issued for Cape Cod, Massachusetts and surrounding areas and islands. The storm is expected to further weaken today and tomorrow dropping to Tropical Depression strength on Saturday and then dissipating.

Because the storm has begun to move away from the coast, we are recommending resumed contact with all mainland counties. We maintain a recommendation for contact suspension for the affected islands but expect to lift this suspension later tonight, September 22nd. To avoid affecting joint counties in Rhode Island, we are using a zip code exclusion for Block Island, Rhode Island.

Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Jose Recommendations

Contact should be resumed in Massachusetts counties: Bristol, Plymouth.

Contact should be resumed in Rhode Island counties (except specified zip codes): Newport, Washington.

A previous recommendation to suspend contact remains in effect for Massachusetts counties: Barnstable County, Dukes County, Nantucket County

ContactRelief's On-going Response to Hurricane Disasters

For a limited time, ContactRelief is providing our full recommendations without charge as a service to the business community. Our full recommendations consist of the areas to be suspended and the list of zip codes covering these areas. Contact sales@contactrelief.com for more information.