Russ Jensen monitors the  activity during the storm yesterday.

During the quick but active storm yesterday, I had the opportunity to shadow 311 department head Russ Jensen. He advised me while the storm was occurring, call volume would remain near normal. Sure enough, he was correct. About twenty minutes after the storm, however, calls for non-life threatening emergencies began.

Most of the calls 311 takes after a storm involves fallen trees, large branches down, electricity out, road flooding, as well as. other incidents that do not require emergency services.  In addition to that, 311 still receives their normal call volume from citizens- which involves anything  from parking tickets to information about events in the city.

To assist the 311 unit, a new flat screen tv has been installed which features up to the minute traffic, weather, call volume, power outages, and a slew of other readily available data. The information consistently scrolls across the screen.

In conclusion, 311 is up to the task- rain or shine.