WOW! Prepared to Support Panama City Customers Affected by Hurricane Michael

PANAMA CITY, Fla., Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone (NYSE: WOW), a leading broadband and communications service provider, announced today it has hardened its network in preparation for Hurricane Michael. WOW!'s proactive emergency response team has taken steps to avoid service outages when the storm makes landfall, which is predicted for Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Dozens of fully fueled, portable generators are staged throughout the Panama City area and Florida coast and are on standby for use, if needed.

WOW!'s Panama City offices will be closed Oct. 9 through Oct. 11 to keep employees safe and allow them to prepare their homes and protect their families ahead of the storm. WOW!'s engineering teams are on alert and prepared to respond to reported outages from customers as soon as it is safe to do so.

"WOW! is here to support Florida residents affected by this storm in any way we can, and are readying our teams to make repairs as soon as the affected areas are declared safe," said Mary Gonka, vice president of Network Operations at WOW!. "We are doing everything we can to prepare our network to minimize outages before WOW! offices close for the week to ensure employee safety."

WOW!'s Dothan, GA and Charleston markets may also be affected by Hurricane Michael. WOW! is making necessary arrangements to prepare both markets for potential risk.

WOW! Hurricane and Tropical Storm Tips:

• The most effective way for residents in areas likely to be impacted by Michael is to visit wowway.com or to call 1-855-4-WOW-WAY for recorded real-time updates. The company will also be providing updates on Twitter and Facebook.
• WOW! recommends residents preload the wowway.com website on their mobile devices prior to the storm and have the WOW! customer service phone number 1-855-4-WOW-WAY written down in the event they need to report an outage.
• Program emergency contact numbers and email addresses into your phone including the police and fire departments, nearest hospital and important friends or family members.
• Keep mobile devices fully charged and dry while electrical power is still functional. Have a backup power supply, like a car charger or a portable battery, if possible and a safe, dry place to keep devices. Plastic bags can be utilized for additional protection from water damage.
• If customers have electrical power but WOW! service is not functional, WOW! recommends customers restart or reset devices, including wireless gateways, modems, routers and cable boxes.

Customers should remember that WOW! is required by law to follow all emergency management procedures and evacuation mandates issued by the state; however, all storm-related repairs will be prioritized and resolved, as soon as it is safe for WOW! engineers to do so.

About WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone
WOW! is one of the nation's leading broadband providers, with a service area that passes over three million residential, business and wholesale consumers. WOW! provides service in 19 markets, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. With an expansive portfolio of advanced services including high-speed Internet services, cable TV, phone, business data, voice, and cloud services, the company is dedicated to providing outstanding service at affordable prices. Visit wowway.com for more information.

SOURCE WideOpenWest, Inc.