Emergencies can happen any time, which means we must always be prepared to respond accordingly. To help residents feel more prepared, the City of Vernon is offering a reminder that you can receive fast, reliable, and accurate emergency information from the City, directly to your preferred electronic device, with Alertable.
Alertable is a digital public alerting system that is free for the public to access and use. Through Alertable, the City’s Emergency Program is able to send direct notifications to subscribers through a smart phone app, phone call, or text message, to share information and directions related to large scale emergencies such as wildfires, floods, or other hazards that may occur within the municipal boundary.
“During emergency situations, every second can count,” said Sue Saunders, Emergency Program Coordinator. “Getting timely and accurate information can make all the difference in how quickly we can respond to an emergency. We strongly encourage every resident, business and visitor to sign up for Alertable.”
In order to receive notifications from the City of Vernon, you must first subscribe to Alertable and choose your preferred method(s) of communication. The smart phone app is the recommended option for using the system. Once you sign up for Alertable, be sure to follow ‘Vernon, BC’ to receive notifications for emergency situations within Vernon’s municipal boundary.
This system is also used by many neighbouring jurisdictions throughout the North Okanagan and South Thompson regions, as well as DriveBC and Environment Canada.
“Alertable is one more tool for the City to use in communicating vital emergency information and complements our existing methods for notifying the public of emergencies, which include updates to our website, social media pages, and local news media,” said Saunders.