OnStar Pitches In, Helps Hurricane Gustav Evacuees
A regional emergency on the scale of Hurricane Gustav can stretch government services to the breaking point. Hundreds of thousands of travelers, clogged roads, limited evacuation time, and general disarray can spread misery like wildfire. But for cars equipped with 
OnStar navigation, the burden has been eased for tens of thousands of evacuating families, a feature available on many late-model General Motors vehicles.
According to The Detroit News, OnStar’s three facilities in Pontiac, MI; Charlotte, NC; and Oshawa, ON have been beefed up to field thousands of calls from evacuees looking for the best route out of town; reporting gas stations which have run out of fuel; asking for assistance in finding accommodations; and trying to be reunited with separated loved ones. On Sunday, the final full day of evacuating before Monday’s landfall, OnStar reported more than 3,000 calls per hour which is double the usual Sunday pace.
“When fires, hurricanes, floods, or tornadoes affect our customers, OnStar opens its services to all affected subscribers,” said Scott Kubicki, vice president, OnStar Subscriber Services . “Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama residents are encouraged to press the OnStar button on their GM vehicle for information about the storm, shelter information and routing.”
Gustav has presented one of the biggest challenges to date for emergency and relief officials. Downgraded to a strong Category 2 storm before it made landfall west of New Orleans on Monday, the storm forced over two million people to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere. Many of the emergency shelters far out of town were booked up as were hotels as far away as Dallas, therefore OnStar was able to direct travelers to far-flung destinations such as Indiana and Kentucky.
For this emergency, OnStar is providing full assistance to every subscriber for all services offered, no matter what plan they chose. OnStar’s Crisis Assist level provides GPS positioning to help emergency responders find a distressed vehicle; emergency services notification to alert authorities when a subscriber calls in to report an emergency involving other drivers; the placement of emergency calls to reach family members and friends; and emergency directions to help drivers find the best route to their destination, hotels, gas stations, food, etc.
At present, more than five million subscribers in the US and Canada use OnStar which is available on most new General Motors vehicles. This past February The Auto Writer reported that OnStar has teamed up with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to provide amber alerts to OnStar subscribers in areas where these alerts are issued.
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