PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Emergency Management has moved to a new alert and warning system and already has more than 80,000 contact phone numbers in the new system.
The department “would like to thank everyone who engaged in this process and helped us reach this number of participants,” said Anne Chastain, Emergency Management Program coordinator, in a press release.
“However, we want to reach out one more time to make sure that no one has been left out,” she said. “Emergency messaging is only effective if it reaches everyone.”
The new system sends out alerts to landlines, email addresses, SMS Text messages, and cell phones and emergency management staff are available to assist anyone unable to navigate the process on their own.
The transition to the new system was on Jan. 29. One final alert was sent out to all subscribers of the old system on that day, directing everyone to the Clallam County website to sign up for the new program.
Chastain encouraged all residents, businesses, and communities in Clallam County to verify their information in the new system.
• To sign up, visit www.clallam countywa.gov and click on “How Do I” and select “Sign up for Clallam Alert and Warning System.”
• Download the phone application through your phone’s App Store “Public Safety by Everbridge.”
• Scan the QR code.
• Call CCEM at 360-565-2684 or 360-417-2483 for personal assistance.
Clallam County Emergency Management (CCEM) maintains and operates a county-wide alert and warning system in accordance with regulations sent by the State Emergency Communications Committee (SECC).
This service is provided through a third-party contractor that works with the county office to deliver emergency messaging promptly. Notifications about weather, law enforcement actions, wildfire evacuation notices and landslides are just a few examples of how the service has been used in the past.
“In the interest of providing the most efficient and effective system for the best possible price, CCEM did a review of our current system and met with several other companies that provide that same service to agencies like ours,” Chastain said.
“We found a new vendor that drastically improved the number of contacts we can reach using a more user-friendly program for a lower base price than what we were paying previously,” she added.
