Forsyth County is now partnering with Swift911 to provide emergency and severe weather alerts these notifications.
Residents can elect to receive the time-sensitive notifications via email, telephone call and/or text message. There is no cost for residents to sign up to receive these alerts, but phone usage or text charges may apply.
The alerts will be sent out for three severe weather situations (severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood warnings and tornado warnings) as well as for emergency situations such as public safety issues or important water notifications from the Forsyth County Water and Sewer Department.
Residents – even those who have signed up for county alerts previously – must register and opt-in to receive these alerts.
How to sign up:
Online:
- Visit the Forsyth County website at www.forsythco.com and look for the ‘Emergency & Weather Alerts’ icon on the home page.
On a smartphone:
-
Text SWIFT911 to 99538 to download the free Swift911 app.
During registration, residents will have the option of selecting what types of alerts they wish to receive and how (email, telephone call and/or text message) they would like to receive the alerts. Residents may also register up to five additional contacts, such as parents, siblings and spouses, under their account. Doing so will send the same alerts to those additional individuals.
“Partnering with Swift911 has resulted in a more user-friendly way for residents to manage their accounts and an upgraded system that will provide the county additional flexibility when sending out the notifications,” Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Deputy Director Chris Grimes said. “The new system will allow the county to send alerts to specific areas based on the situation at hand. Our goal is to get the right information out to the right people at the right time, and this system will assist us in doing so.”
Anyone who has registered for the county alerts previously must re-register through the new Swift911 system within 90 days to continue receiving the alerts. Doing so will allow them to confirm and/or update their information and to select the specific types of alerts they wish to receive.
Due to the transition of utilizing a new vendor, only contact information – not individuals’ alert preferences – for those previously registered was able to be transferred to the new system. This means that those who previously signed up will receive all types of county alerts for 90 days only, unless they re-register.
All users are reminded that the county government does not retain username and password information. Users must make any updates to their information directly through the Swift911 sign-up page or app.
For questions regarding the emergency and weather alerts, contact the Forsyth County EMA office at (770) 205-5674 or [email protected].
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/1/361112/forsyth-co-announces-new-emergency-severe-weather-alert-system