ATLANTA, May 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly three out
of four Americans surveyed think the weather is growing
increasingly severe, yet two in five are ill prepared for a severe
storm, according to an exclusive study fielded by The Weather
Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM), in partnership with Morning
Consult. During National Hurricane Preparedness Week
(May 5-11), The Weather Company
released its 2019 hurricane forecast for the Atlantic and Tropics,
in addition to data on preparedness and the correlation between
severe weather and emotions.
The Weather Company predicts 14 named storms, with the potential
for seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes in 2019 -- a slight
decrease in activity when compared to the previous season. The
Atlantic hurricane season starts June
1 and runs through November
30.
"El Niño conditions are expected to continue throughout the
North Atlantic hurricane season, which will enable an atmospheric
pattern that is not conducive for increased tropical development,"
said Dr. Todd Crawford, chief
meteorologist for The Weather Company. "Alternatively, the North
Atlantic Ocean temperatures are warmer-than-normal, which tends to
produce above normal activity levels. The combination of El Niño
conditions and warm Atlantic waters suggest a near-normal season
that is similar to last year. Much like the 2017 weather pattern
that produced Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael, there is
still the potential for intense tropical cyclones in 2019. Our
teams are focused on providing the data and insights people need to
prepare."
Nearly 40 percent of Americans have experienced severe weather
that damaged their homes or made them evacuate, with one in five
happening in the last five years. While weather is universal, how
people react to it can be very personal. According to the
study:
Less than half of Americans are prepared for an
emergency.
- 42% of Americans surveyed don't have an evacuation plan in the
event of severe weather. 19% have a family meet-up plan.
- Americans are most likely to heed local government's warning if
told to evacuate (50% very likely), more so than family (44%) or
close friends (34%).
- When Americans choose not to evacuate, 23% say the main reason
they would stay is because they don't believe evacuation would be
necessary and that they could ride out the storm. Others would stay
home to care for family members (19%) or pets (20%). 31% of
respondents say they would always evacuate.
- About 15% of respondents have a preparedness kit packed. About
half of respondents do not have a preparedness kit, but say they
have essential items in mind if an emergency arises.
Americans turn to their devices when storms are
looming.
- 62% Americans watch TV or streaming services during a storm,
with Gen X at 67%, and Boomers at 59%.
- About half of Americans spend their time browsing the Internet
during a storm.
Local TV news still a trusted source for weather
updates.
- Local broadcast TV is still a go-to source among older viewers:
61% of Boomers rely on traditional TV for updates, outpacing 39% of
Millennials and 31% of Gen Z respondents who turn to local
broadcast for their weather news.
- 60% of Millennials and 61% of Gen X use smartphone apps for
weather information, along with 57% of Boomers and 50% of Gen
Z.
- More than half of respondents check their phones three or more
times per day for timely updates during severe weather events.
IBM Code and Response Deployment Initiative Pilots Project
Owl Technology in Puerto Rico for
Disaster Readiness and Relief
IBM and The Weather Company provide data and insights to help
people and businesses prepare for the impact of weather. By
leveraging billions of data sources, AI, and open source
technology, the company is providing new possibilities of decision
making, preparedness and response.
For example, through IBM's Code and Response deployment
initiative, self-taught Brooklyn
developer Bryan Knouse and his
Project Owl team recently piloted innovative new technology built
on the IBM Cloud and leveraging IoT, AI, and data from The Weather
Company aimed at providing always-on communication networks in the
path of severe storms. The technology was created during the Call
for Code 2018 Global Challenge in response to Hurricane Maria,
which devastated the island and knocked out communication services,
leaving people with no way to contact family members or call for
help.
Over 6,000 data points were successfully plotted on Project
Owl's open source IBM Cloud-based incident management system,
showing the potential of this technology to operate at scales large
enough to help make a difference in disaster response. Along with
the Project Owl team, IBM developers, Corporate Service Corps, and
partners like the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center
and the Engine-4 IoT Lab, are working to fully implement the OWL
network in Puerto Rico later this
year. Project Owl will conduct its next pilot in Houston at the end of May.
In 2018, over 100,000 developers from 156 nations participated
in the inaugural Call for Code Global Challenge, a multi-year
global campaign that rallies developers to use the latest
technologies to drive long-lasting change across the world.
Developers built more than 2,500 applications to address the impact
of natural disasters through technology. To support the initiative,
IBM engaged developers to work with weather data by offering tools
like APIs and code patterns along with Watson AI, IoT and IBM
Blockchain to help create solutions to mitigate the effects of
natural disasters.
The IBM Code and Response initiative puts open source
technologies to use for social good, while helping communities
vulnerable to severe weather across the globe.
The study was fielded by The Weather Company, an IBM Business,
in partnership with Morning Consult from April 28, 2019 - April 29,
2019 among a national sample of 2,200 U.S. adults. The
interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to
approximate a target sample of adults based on age, race/ethnicity,
gender, educational attainment, and region. Results from the full
survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
For additional information, visit weather.com.
The Weather Company, an IBM Business, helps people make informed
decisions and take action in the face of weather. The company
offers the most accurate forecasts globally with personalized and
actionable weather data and insights to millions of consumers,
marketers and businesses through its business solutions division
and its own digital products from The Weather Channel (weather.com)
and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). The Weather Company's
digital properties serve 300 million monthly users in 62 languages
and 178 countries, all on the IBM Cloud. For more about IBM's
Weather business, visit newsroom.ibm.com/the-weather-company. For
more about IBM's developer offerings, visit developer.ibm.com.
A global AI and Cloud company, IBM is one of the largest
technology and innovation employers in the world and serves clients
in 170 countries. For more information, visit ibm.com.
Contact: Megan
Levinson, megan.levinson@ibm.com
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SOURCE The Weather Company, an IBM Business