SEATTLE, June 1, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- WhitePages.com, the leading provider of free online directory assistance services, today announced several tips for building an emergency communication strategy for U.S. residents living in areas prone to hurricanes.
As America watched the devastation from the 2005 hurricane season unfold on their television screens, many friends and relatives of affected residents were left wondering and worrying about the safety of their loved ones. Internal statistics for WhitePages.com show that neighbor searches for people in Mississippi and Louisiana increased by nearly 1,600 percent, and people searches increased by more than 300 percent between August 25 and August 31, 2005. WhitePages.com provides more than 80 million U.S. residential listings.
As the 2006 hurricane season gets underway, WhitePages.com recommends families prepare a communication strategy in advance so friends and family know they are safe in the event of another natural disaster.
-- Use WhitePages.com 'Find Neighbors' feature to find contact
information for everyone in your neighborhood.
-- Sponsor a block party or neighborhood meeting at your house
so everyone can get to know each other and exchange emergency
contact information.
-- After a storm, power or phone lines may not necessarily be down
in all parts of the neighborhood. In the event family members are
unable to reach you because of a utility outage, the 'Find
Neighbors' feature can help them identify your neighbors who still
have telephone service. Let your family and friends know they can
contact your neighbors if they can't reach you after a hurricane
or other natural disaster.
-- After a storm, 'Find Neighbors' can be used to locate pets you may
have had to leave behind. A quick phone call to a nearby neighbor
who did not evacuate can set your mind at ease if you left your
companion animals behind.
Finding Neighbors at WhitePages.com
It's easy to connect with other families in your neighborhood. Simply execute a 'People Search' using your own name and address information. On the results page, click on the 'Find Neighbors' link directly below your listing and you will be directed to the names, addresses and phone numbers for everyone who lives on your street. If you're not listed, a 'Reverse Address Search' using your street name, city, state and ZIP code will return the same results.
About WhitePages.com
WhitePages.com, Inc., a privately held company based in Seattle, provides online directory assistance services and is the largest provider of free online residential directory assistance in North America. The company's network of sites include WhitePages.com (www.whitepages.com), WhitePages.ca (www.whitepages.ca), 411.com (www.411.com), PhoneNumber.com (www.phonenumber.com), and its 1,300 partner sites including MSN, SuperPages.com, YellowPages.com and the Yellow Pages Group in Canada.
The WhitePages.com, Inc. logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2367