In late January of 2013 a powerful EF-3 tornado cut a swath through parts of Northwest Georgia. Early numbers indicate more than 500 homes were impacted in Gordon County alone, with many being completely destroyed as the tornado ravaged the communities about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta.

In advance of the storm, Georgia’s Ground Search & Rescue Task-Force 6 relied on Connect Rocket to quickly alert 120 team members from multiple departments about the approach of the 1,000 mile long storm system. As soon as the tornado was confirmed on the ground, the team was activated using the application’s broadcast notification feature.

“A storm of this magnitude poses significant risk to life and property and we need to know we can rely on our communications tools at the worst of times. This was the first big test of Connect Rocket for our organization and it worked real well for us”, said Lenny Nesbitt, Chief of the City of Calhoun Fire Department.

The City of Calhoun also used Connect Rocket to quickly communicate the need for staffing coverage and backfilled fire stations with off duty personnel. “Connect Rocket did it’s job and performed as expected - our members were informed and responded when needed most. This is by far the fastest and most user friendly system we’ve used. I sure do like it!”, added Chief Nesbitt.