"CalMatters and The Markup reported on how residents in each of California’s 58 counties can sign up for local emergency alerts, and found a few surprises along the way. Here’s how you can build the same guide in your state."
"After reporting out how residents can sign up for local emergency alerts in each of California’s 58 counties, CalMatters and The Markup learned that in some cases, it’s harder than you’d expect. We found broken links and wrong information throughout the registration process, though two counties fixed these problems immediately after we contacted them. Some counties also had third-party sign-up pages that might make a savvy internet user question whether the website was legitimate.
Local emergency government alerts, sent via SMS, email, phone call, or app notification, are an important and often overlooked method of emergency messaging. During the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, some community members did not receive evacuation alerts because they had not registered for local alerts. Additionally, during the deadly 2018 Camp Fire in California, only 40 percent of Paradise residents were signed up when local emergency alerts went out.
If you’re interested in publishing a comprehensive emergency alert guide for your state, you can start with our article on CalMatters (it’s free to republish if you credit us clearly, and the majority of it applies to all states), and then swap out the section titled “How to sign up for your county’s alerts” with your reporting for your state."
Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett reports for CalMatters September 27, 2024.
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