Tropical Storm Harvey is making a comeback and is expected to hit the Texas coast sometime Friday, bringing torrential rains and flooding to the Houston area. CNN announced at 11 am today that this storm is likely to hit the coast as a category 3 hurricane. It is now predicted that Houston will receive up to 20 inches of rainfall. Our Houston 2 data center, built to withstand category 5 winds and located 3 feet above the 500-year flood plain, is always ready with redundant power and cooling, 24×7 storm monitoring, enough fuel to keep generators running continually, and supplies for workers on site.
Data Foundry’s 24x7x365 staff constantly monitors weather radars for storms and other potentially threatening weather events in our Network Operations Center (NOC). In addition to the regular data center staff, additional on-call facility technicians are standing by to be mobilized to the site in the event of an emergency. We are currently in an emergency readiness state. Our data centers are stocked with food and water in the event that staff or clients must remain on site due to extreme weather conditions. We also provide amenities like cots, showers and washing machines for unexpected extended stays at Houston 2.
“We are always evaluating weather threats and other emergencies that may impact the availability of services in and around our data centers,” says Director of Customer Operations, Eric Davenport. “Our facilities are well provisioned and built to withstand such conditions, but, more importantly, our staff begins preparing for emergencies well in advance through assessment, training, and evaluation of our emergency procedures to protect our customers’ mission critical systems.”
For example, last year Houston experienced record flooding with over 16 inches of rainfall during a 12-hour period. Our Houston data centers were unaffected. We experienced no flooding, no power outages and staff remained onsite with food, coffee and cots ready for anyone who might have needed it. We expect this time will be no different, and we will keep our customers updated as the storm approaches.
