(Bellingham, WA) With Tropical Storm Edouard bearing down on the south Texas coast, multiple companies and agencies geared up their communication systems. A large and rapidly increasing number of organizations in the Houston region use PIER--the Public Information Emergency Management system that provides a web platform for managing all critical communication functions. These organizations have adopted PIER because they recognize the need to get "the right information, to the right people, right now."

Leading organizations using PIER include:

    - Fort Bend County  --  http://www.fortbendcountynews.info

    - Port of Houston --  http://www.phastatus.com

   - Houston Metro -- http://www.metroresponds.org

   - University of Houston -- http://www.uhemergency.info

  - CB&I  --  http://www.gomycbi.com

   - Marathon Oil  -- http://www.marathonresponds.org

   - Shell -- http://shell.com (inquiry management function)

Other PIER users in the region include BP and Enbridge. The City of Pasadena is finalizing deployment of the PIER System, and approximately 30 government agencies in and around Houston are in the early stages of implementing PIER as part of a coordinated contract using Department of Homeland Security Urban Area Security Initiative funding. Agencies participating include Fort Bend County with five centers, Missouri City, Sugar Land, Rosenberg, Lamar CISD, Fort Bend ISD, Pasadena OEM, Harris County (five centers), Houston ISD, City of Houston (six centers) Texas Medical Center, Harris County Department of Education, Montgomery County, Conroe ISD, Galveston Office of Emergency Management and South Texas Power nuclear facility's Joint Information Center.