Residents urged to sign up for emergency alerts

Gas Leaks, Flooding and Boil Orders, Oh My! How do you find out about local emergencies and disasters at home? At work?

Most communities are using new technologies which allow residents and businesses to register cell phone numbers and email addresses with local municipal databases for community call-out notifications. With more and more residents and business relying on electronic communications, it's important to stay connected. Many communities use a mass call-out service to alert their residents and businesses using a database of landlines but have no way to access “local” cell phones numbers.

Typically, a visit to your local municipal website will enable residents and businesses to register their mobile devices for calls and text-messaging as well as provide e-mail addresses for local emergency notifications. In addition, many communities offer the option to sign up for general and non-emergency announcements such as community events, meeting notices and road closures.

As September ends, so does National Preparedness Month, an event founded after 9/11 to increase preparedness in the U.S. Please encourage everyone to visit their municipal website where they live and where they work and register. If We Can't Reach You, We Can't Notify You.