Moments of Quiet Dedication: The People of Cingular Respond to Hurricane Katrina

ATLANTA, Sept. 16  /PRNewswire/ -- Portable generators, fuel, cell sites on wheels (a.k.a. "COWs"), switching centers, last-mile providers, satellite links, and more:  This is the public language of Cingular's ongoing effort to restore service in the areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.

These are necessary words, but they are not sufficient because they don't begin to capture the uncountable moments of quiet, selfless dedication demonstrated by the men and women of Cingular in response to an unprecedented disaster.

The company has some 5,300 employees in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  More than half have been affected in some way by Hurricane Katrina.  Some have seen the accumulated possessions and memories of a lifetime swept away in brackish floodwaters.

To help meet the unprecedented needs of Katrina's victims, Cingular and its employees established Cingular Cares, an initiative intended to raise more than $5 million primarily to support Cingular people.  In less than two weeks, more than $1 million has been raised and the first checks from this fund have been distributed.

Despite their own needs, Cingular people have focused on restoring service to the affected areas.  A number of them continue to do so in dirty and dangerous conditions.  One manager, Chris Dalphy, usually handles environmental health and safety issues for the company in California, but traveled east to help.  He distributed boots, glasses, and rubber suits to network restoration crews working in the worst-hit parts of New Orleans. "They are going into a true 'hot zone' covered in sewage, chemical waste, and decay," he said.  "Cingular is extremely concerned about the protection of our people in such an environment," he said.

One of the Cingular people working on restoration is Terry Kimes, the company's manager of operations at one of the Cingular centers in New Orleans that routes wireless traffic.  The other one is flooded.

In a newspaper interview with Knight-Ridder, Kimes described conditions in the center that is still operational.  About 20 of his workers have been sleeping on inflatable mattresses as they install new equipment to help compensate for the loss of the flooded center.  They live and work amid cases of Gatorade, baked beans, and snacks.  They now have a washer and dryer.

In big ways and small, the work of Cingular's people during and after Hurricane Katrina has been recognized.  For example, senior switch engineer Ney Baez stopped at a toll booth on his way to work in Miami and noticed a police officer looking at his truck.  As Baez drove on, he saw the same officer on a motorcycle pull up next to him.  Baez thought he was going to get a ticket.

"Instead," Baez said, "he looked at the Cingular Emergency Response Team sign I had on my truck, took out a cell phone, kissed it, gave me a 'thumbs up,' and then roared off down the road on his merry way.  It is gratifying to know that all he wanted was to show his appreciation for our performance." 

DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless



CONTACT:  Clay Owen of Cingular Wireless, [phone], or

 



Web site:  http://www.cingular.com/

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