12th September 2017 – The Valley, Anguilla – Although the small Caribbean island of Anguilla is still counting the cost of the serious damage sustained during the passage of Hurricane Irma on Wednesday, September 6th , for FLOW customers the anxiety caused by the storm was somewhat abated as the island was kept in constant communication with family and friends – thanks to FLOW’s resilient network.
FLOW, the number one network for maximum reliability and 100% coverage on the island, remained the only network to withstand the test of Hurricane Irma. Despite the harsh hurricane conditions, FLOW’s mobile coverage stood up to the ravages of Irma. However, the company did not stop there. FLOW Anguilla opened its doors at 10am the morning after the Hurricane to give customers the opportunity to re-charge their phones, purchase new prepaid SIM cards and top-up pre-paid accounts.
“Hurricane Irma showed the true spirit of the FLOW Anguilla team. With island-wide electricity outages, it was imperative that we provide a source for our customers to stay connected with their loved ones, near and far. We sent out a SMS text message and notified Radio Anguilla, that our office would be available for customers to use our SuperFast WiFi, Top up and charge handsets and other mobile devices. The team came in to aid with additional seating and additional charging ports.” Jade Reymond, Marketing and Communications Manager said.
“We have extended free credit to all prepaid customers, enabling mobile customers to get in contact with loved ones on their island or abroad without worrying about charges – this allows them to use SMS, social media or make calls. For customers on contracted or post-pay services (e.g. home broadband, telephone & TV and post-pay mobile) we have decided not to disconnect services in affected areas until further notice to ease the burden on our customers during this difficult time.” said Country Manager, Desron Bynoe. “If nothing else, the challenging events of this past week have only served to demonstrate the amazing spirit within C&W, with countless stories emerging of truly inspirational efforts from teams and individuals across our markets. I would like to make special mention of our team members in Anguilla and the Caribbean who have been working night and day, to ensure continuity of our business.”
Prior to the Hurricane, our Regional Crisis Management Team went into high gear making preparations to ensure complete readiness of all our markets. In the Caribbean especially, our team came out to work despite personal loss and worked late into the night to ensure customers could utilize our services to stay in touch with their loved ones. On the night of the Hurricane seven technicians from Flow Anguilla responded to a call to secure the exchange to ensure it remained online so that customers could stay in touch. By the following morning after the Hurricane, 90% of Team Anguilla came out to work, cleaned and opened up the Valley store and immediately started serving customers right through until it got dark at 6pm.
Our mission is ‘Connecting Communities…Transforming Lives’, and the past seven days have seen us live this to the full. These selfless actions positively impacted thousands of others and provided a sense of calm and comfort during this difficult time. I have never been prouder to be part of this great company.
Despite all of this, I am proud to report our network remained largely resilient and in some cases, was the only communications option for many affected residents during and after the Hurricane, despite damage to many cell sites in all affected markets.
Demonstrating leadership by example, FLOW Caribbean CEO, Martin Roos, who was in Anguilla for a staff event scheduled that day, pitched in to help distribute water and assist FLOW customers. “We are thankful that there was no loss of life, and although the island was ravaged by Hurricane Irma, damage was minimised due to good disaster mitigation planning by the government and people of Anguilla. FLOW is proud to have played our part by being there when the people needed us most,” Martin Roos said.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
