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AWS Convergence
Technologies, Inc. 12410 Milestone Center Drive Suite 300 Germantown, Maryland 20876 Phone: 301-250-4000 
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Press ReleasesPress > September 22, 2005 Release WeatherBug® Restoration and Enhancement of Gulf Coast Weather Network Enables the National Weather Service, Government Agencies and Consumers to Prepare for Hurricane Rita and Cope with Katrina’s Aftermath 21 New Stations in Katrina-Impacted Region Provide Greater Monitoring of Live, Neighborhood-Level Conditions for Enhanced Emergency Planning and Preparedness as Hurricane Rita Reaches Category 5 Germantown, MD, – September 22, 2005 – WeatherBug, the leading provider of live, local weather information services, today announced that the company is quickly restoring the nation’s damaged weather network on the Gulf Coast by installing 21 new WeatherBug Tracking Stations. This hurricane relief effort is the latest endeavor of the partnership between WeatherBug and the National Weather Service. The repaired network is feeding live, streaming weather data to enable meteorologists and government agencies to recover from Katrina’s destruction and prepare for Rita, now a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 MPH. Forecast models curve the hurricane northward slightly toward the western Gulf Coast late this week. Consequently, Hurricane Rita threatens the entire Texas coast, as well as the Katrina-ravaged areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. Several coastal communities in Texas have already issued mandatory evacuations, as conditions to portend an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Although Rita’s path and intensity are unpredictable, she has entered an environment optimal for major hurricanes and continues her projected direction. In recent weeks, emergency managers and first responders along the Gulf Coast often commented how vital live WeatherBug data is to evacuation and emergency management efforts. They rely upon WeatherBug data to identify and track severe weather to determine what emergency resources need to be deployed and what routes are the safest. This enables them to continue to protect the public and save lives – before, during and after a hurricane strikes. With the threat of Hurricane Rita, these responders are busy preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. For the critical days leading up to Hurricane Rita’s landfall in Florida and subsequent to Katrina’s landfall in Florida and the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service (NWS), state and local government agencies, consumers, mobile users, businesses and broadcast networks relied on live weather information from WeatherBug Tracking Stations to effectively communicate live, accurate life-saving information. Consumers continue to flock to WeatherBug in record numbers to monitor and view the rapidly changing conditions. To monitor and view live weather in Rita’s path via WeatherBug Tracking Stations and WeatherBug Cameras in Rita’s projected path anywhere and anytime via the Internet or via select wireless carriers and over 100 radio and TV broadcast partners in Rita’s projected path, including: KATC (ABC in Lafayette, LA), KFDM (CBS in Beaumont, TX), KLTV (ABC in Tyler, TX ) WWL (CBS in New Orleans, LA), WBRZ (ABC in Baton Rouge, LA), KHOU (CBS in Houston, TX), KAVU (ABC in Victoria, TX), KENS (CBS in San Antonio, TX), KXAN (NBC in Austin, TX), KXAS(NBC in Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX), KXTX (Telemundo in Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX) and KJRH (NBC in Tulsa, OK). Because mobile access to weather data is often the only access users have when severe weather disrupts power and Internet access, mobile users often rely upon their wireless service as their ‘lifeline’ for accurate, on-demand weather information. Even when mobile users were unable to make voice calls due to service disruption due Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf States and Rita in Florida, they were able to get current conditions and forecasts. The day Katrina made landfall WeatherBug issued over 12,000 alerts to mobile users in the zip codes in Katrina’s path. A recent report rated weather as the second most popular category for mobile Internet access. About WeatherBug®WeatherBug (www.weatherbug.com) ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and communities always get the most precise live weather conditions, the most relevant reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard their property and their lives. WeatherBug owns the world's largest exclusive weather network, which has over 8,000 live WeatherBug Tracking Stations and more than 1,000 cameras that generate neighborhood level reports every second versus other weather providers whose data is up to an hour or more old. This network powers various products and services, including: WeatherBug, the number one weather Internet application, with over 60 million downloads, that streams live neighborhood conditions to its home and work users; WeatherBug Media Services, which delivers live weather information to over 80 million U.S. households through partnerships with more than 100 local television stations; WeatherBug Education, which provides engaging weather information and educational tools to schools and colleges, including an online learning program for K-12 schools called WeatherBug Achieve; and WeatherBug Professional Services, which uses the company's unique weather network and software to provide high-value solutions for vertical industries such as energy, transportation, and first response. WeatherBug is a brand of AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. www.aws.com. # # # Press Contacts:Editors Note - To schedule an interview with WeatherBug meteorologists:
Alyce Menton Debra Eisenberg
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