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Larimer County Spreads Word About New Alert System

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Sep 25, 2008 7:01 pm US/Mountain

Larimer County Spreads Word About New Alert System

Reporting
Mike Hooker
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) ― Go to the Colorado State University campus for a glimpse of the way people communicate these days.

A cell phone is the only way to get a hold of some people in a emergency.

For others it's email.

As for the old landline phone connected with a cord? CSU sophomore Aaron Bain says he doesn't know anyone who is a student there who has a landline at their house.

"Everyone just has a cell phone," he said.

Now, in Larimer County people without a landline phone can get reverse 911-type emergency calls.

"We are the first in the state to be able to roll out an expanded service like this," Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority's Kimberly Culp said.

The next step is to get people to register for the the service by signing up online. A booth at a Thursday health fair was part of the signup kickoff.

"Bottom line ... if we can't reach you, we cant alert you," Culp said.

The online sign-up pages lets residents get alerts about various addresses. So they might include their children's school or a business address along with their home.

"If my kid's not at home or my wife's not at home but something is going on at our house or in our neighborhood, they get that notification before they go home, so they maybe know maybe we don't want to go home," Larimer County sheriff's spokesman Bill Nelson said.

Nelson says law enforcement has been waiting for years for this type of service.

"We just want to make sure that we can reach people where they are when there's an emergency."

For people with just a cell phone like Bain, it's a relief to be back in the emergency information loop.

"In emergency situations -- a natural disaster, something like that, everyone is going to know what's going on," he said. "It's going to organize the whole community."

Along with cell numbers, e-mail and text messages, Larimer County residents can opt-in Internet phone numbers from services like Vonage.

Emergency Alert Systems Modernizing Across The State

A handful of other Colorado counties, including Mesa and Garfield, have plans in the works to add wireless devices to their emergency notification systems.

911 experts say many other counties in the state are also considering their wireless options.

A few other emergency text messaging alert systems are already in place across the state.

CBS4 News has its own alert system. We send out breaking news, weather updates, and Broncos alerts to our subscribers. (More Info)

The system warned Katheryn Reynolds in Greeley of the tornado heading towards her town on May 22.

Alerts about that same tornado also were sent out through Colorado State University's emergency alert system. Students, staff and faculty were given warnings to take cover. The massive tornado came within 10 miles of campus.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Department has offered emergency alerts and warnings since the county partnered with a company called GovDelivery in 2007. Subscribers can sign up for the alerts via email, or by phone if the phone accept texts.

Erie is one of several Colorado communities that was considering instituting a similar program for its residents.

Additional Resources

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