Omnilingua servers down due to Iowa flooding June 13, 2008
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings, Uncategorized.trackback
One of my clients, Omnilingua in Cedar Rapids, is doing its best to keep operating as usual despite the fact that its servers (e-mail, FTP, etc.) are down due to the flooding in Cedar Rapids. According to CNN, nearly 4,000 homes have been evacuated, a railroad bridge has collapsed and cars are underwater on downtown streets. The Iowa governor has declared 55 of Iowa’s 99 counties to be state disaster areas. I hope everyone at Omnilingua and throughout Iowa are safe and dry tonight and that the flood waters will recede soon. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in Iowa, but they’re “going to need a lot of prayers, and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding.”
6/16/08: I received an e-mail this morning that the servers at Omnilingua are functioning again as well as two job requests, so business is back to normal there – thank heavens. I remember how weird things were when the Rhine flooded in Bonn. I can’t even imagine the entire downtown area flooding there. Let’s hope the rains stop and the floodwaters recede quickly.
Musings from an overworked translator 
My prayers are with you all!
Let’s hope this terrible situation is over soon.
Iowa Flooding “Reconnecting Families and Individuals”
For Immediate Release:
Iowa USA
Friday, June 13, 2008
NOKR is asking anyone that may have a missing or potentially injured family member due to the flooding situation in Iowa to register this person with the Next of Kin Registry.
Register at: http://www.nokr.org
Registered contact information will be passed on to area emergency officials responding to this disaster.
The NOKR organization has initiated contact with the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management office to offer any assistance possible to help reunify individuals and families displaced by this tragic flooding.
The Next of Kin Registry (NOKR)
Can be found in the following area in Iowa
State of Iowa website (Public Safety Services)
http://www.iowa.gov/state/main/safetyservices.html
US Governments Portal USA.gov (Under Family Services)
http://www.usa.gov/Government/State_Local/Health.shtml
Next of Kin National Registry
About NOKR:
The Next Of Kin Registry (NOKR) was established as a FREE tool for daily emergencies and national disasters. NOKR is an emergency contact system to help if you or your family member is missing, injured or deceased. NOKR provides the public a free proactive service to store emergency contacts, next of kin and vital medical information that would be critical to emergency response agencies. Stored information is only accessible via a secure area that is only accessible by emergency public trust agencies that have registered with NOKR.
NOKR encourages every township, county, municipality, city, state and nation to take ownership of the NOKR. This resource belongs to you, your citizens and to your emergency agencies. Take the NOKR registration forms and add your own identifying symbols.
NOKR is a humanitarian organization. As part of our mission to society NOKR has created a trusted safeguarding system for all personal emergency contacts worldwide. NOKR does not own the information we store, this information belongs to the registrants and is made available securely to registered emergency agencies during times of urgent need.
NOKR is a non-partisan; non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to bridging rapid emergency contact information. NOKR was established in January 2004, for daily emergency situations.
The NOKR’s system is used during daily emergencies and was utilized for the following national and global disasters.
2004 Asian Tsunami
2005 London Bombing
2005 Hurricane Disasters
2005 Mudslide Guatemala
2006 India Train Bombing
2006 Indonesia Earthquake
2006 Leyte Village Philippines Mudslide
2007 Virginia Tech College Shooting
2007 I-35 Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007 California Wild fires