9-1-1 in reverse

[tenaya]

I went to my city website and signed up for the Code Red alert system.

"The CodeRED system gives City Officials the ability to notify City residents by telephone about emergency situations or critical community alerts. The CodeRED system is capable of contacting specific targeted areas or the entire City at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. The CodeRED system will only be used when situations arise that the community should be aware of (i.e. severe weather, wildfire, water main breaks, alerts concerning a missing child or adult, road closings, law enforcement emergencies and hazardous material spills)."

I remember seeing on the news how during those wildfires in San Diego last year, how a couple of families were alerted by the phone call to find the fire was at their homes and barely escaped the flames.

You might check to see if your community has signed up for the service.

Comments

[khek.livejournal.com]

I think the reverse calling system is an excellent idea. Our town automatically signs up everyone with a phone, but our population is only about 12,000, so that may be easier.

I think they decided to do it after there was a water contamination problem, and the police and fire and dpw departments had to knock on every door to notify residents. I found out we had it when there was an elderly man missing, and there was a message on my machine to check my property and outbuildings for him. As far as I remember, that's the only time they've used it since it was set up about four years ago. But it's not like a lot of catastrophes happen around here!