Customers Flock to Storm Center Maps During Severe Winter Storms
May 28, 2020
The Northeastern United States is no stranger to severe weather, particularly during the winter months. Seasoned snowstorm weatherers or not, this region was hit hard on February 7, 2020, when a widespread storm thundered up the Eastern Seaboard pummeling the area with freezing rain, heavy snow, and high winds. The storm took down trees, caused property damage, and left approximately 850,000 homes and businesses without power across the region. Being without power in the depths of winter is unsettling, especially if you don’t know when it will be restored.
Over 300,000 customers with access to the KUBRA Storm Center outage map were affected by the storm but they weren’t left in the dark about when their power would be restored. They were able to view outages in their area and access important information like estimated time of restoration from their utility’s outage map. And many did just that.
On February 7 alone, Storm Center maps experienced a staggering usage spike with millions of hits from customers across the Northeast. In Massachusetts, where 65,000 customers were affected, a local utility received almost 150,000 visitors and 850,000 interactions to their Storm Center map. This was more than a 3250% increase in map visits from the previous day.
Massachusetts utility map spikes to nearly 150,000 visitors during the storm—a 3250% increase from the previous day.
A New York utility experienced over one million interactions and 200,000 visitors to their outage map—a staggering 2940% increase from the previous day.
The New York utility map spikes to 200,000 visitors during the storm, a 2940% increase from the previous day.
Partner with KUBRA for Storm Center Mapping
Having access to information about outages and restoration times during severe weather allows customers to assess their specific situation and plan accordingly. The uptick in map views during this recent winter storm illustrates how Storm Center met the demands of customers as they looked to their utility to keep them informed as they dug out.