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Flood Monitoring During Hurricane Harvey

Posted by Amy Hite on Sep 15, 2017

Stealth Monitoring can be a key strategic partner in commercial property disaster planning and recovery, including flood monitoring. Hurricane Harvey’s harsh rain, wind, and flood conditions threatened thousands of Texas and Louisiana commercial sites, including buildings, vehicles, and other assets.

In the middle of the hurricane many businesses in Houston were not accessible due to flooded streets and downed trees. In many cases company operations and security staff were not able to visit their properties. They didn’t know if their sites and assets were safe and what damages they may have suffered.

Stealth remote security cameras continued to operate during the hurricane, providing live video of rain and flooded streets, parking lots, and alleys to our customers. Stealth provided real-time information to clients on their properties. The video and reports gave business owners and managers peace of mind that they knew the state of their site. They were able to start disaster recovery plans without having to wait until waters receded many days later.

The Stealth monitoring team adopted a war room mentality to provide active flood monitoring and support our customers during this natural disaster.

See the video below to see before and after flood monitoring security video from some of our Houston clients.

One of the flood monitoring challenges was trying to communicate with Houston, Texas-area clients. This was difficult due to high call volume, fewer incoming Houston phone lines, and technical outages in the area. The flood monitoring team had to rely heavily on mobile phones to contact area customers.

Hurricane Harvey-affected clients were featured on large overhead television monitors in the Stealth Monitoring control center. Typically these displays are only used for active incidents. The TVs gave control center staff a direct and ongoing view of deteriorating conditions that could include flooding, property damage, looting, and other unusual activity.

A point person was assigned to handle all email and phone communications from Houston, Texas and surrounding areas like Galveston, Sugarland, and Katy to help ensure a rapid response. Commercial security managers contacted customers directly to inform them of events occurring on their property and the severity of the damage.

City decision makers decided to open up the Houston reservoir, which caused even more flooding problems. The officials said the release was necessary to avoid a collapse of the reservoir dam. This action put several thousand more homes and businesses in the area at risk.

Stealth Monitoring is the leader in remote video surveillance in Canada and the U.S, with over 400 employees, 11 offices, and 3 live video monitoring control centers. Stealth’s proactive video monitoring watches over 17,000 IP and CCTV security cameras. Our security solutions feature advanced technology and can detect and deter crime while reducing security guard and other expenses. Our remote monitoring service can reduce or even replace security guards at a fraction of the cost. A remote surveillance operator can see suspicious activity, activate a speaker warning, and call the local police.

Please call toll-free (855) STEALTH or contact us today for more information to protect your outdoor assets. Visit the Stealth website to see real arrest videos at construction sites, multifamily apartments, shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses, auto dealerships, and other commercial real estate properties.