An app will be used to notify residents of emergency situations.
Warren County is encouraging residents to sign up for a new emergency alert system.
The county on Tuesday announced it has joined the Swift911 system which will provide voice messages and eventually text, web and social media alerts to area residents who sign up to receive them. The sign-up is free.
Residents can sign up on their phone by texting "SWIFT911" to 99538, which will provide a link to the app for Android, Apple and Windows devices. Users can also register online -- clicking the Swift911 graphic on the county's website opens a sign-up page.
In an emergency, officials can use the app to send out mass messages about areas to avoid, where to take shelter or other instructions. The app provides information based on the subscriber's location, the county said in a news release.
The county's public safety department is enrolled to provide alerts, and the goal is to sign up local police chiefs and emergency management coordinators to provide their own alerts, the news release said.
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SwiftReach Networks, the company that provides the Swift911 system, is headquartered in Mahwah, New Jersey, and provides service nationwide.
"You can put in multiple addresses, home and work, and link family members," said Dwane R. Razzetti, director of SwiftReach's emergency management division, during Tuesday's launch at the Warren County Public Safety Building. "You should put every phone number you have in the system: work, home, unlisted phone numbers, cellphones."
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.