MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Madison County officials are spreading the word about information and tools available for those in the area to access, including the Rave Alert System and Smart911.
Outdoor sirens are primarily intended to warn people who are spending time outside about severe weather approaching, which isn't necessarily helpful to those indoors. So, Madison County Emergency Management Director Tim Gray said people indoors also need a way to be alerted of emergencies.
“Everybody should have at least multiple ways of being notified, whether that's outdoor warning sirens, weather radios, apps on your phone,” he said.
Because of the prevalence and everyday use of phones, the county has set up a Rave Alert System, which sends text messages from emergency management.
“We have Rave text alerts that go out that you can sign up for, and they'll send weather notifications from [the] National Weather Service out to your phone,” Gray said.
“It could be anything from a water line break that you'd have to boil water to a severe weather system moving in, a tornado, could be as much as missing persons that's in our area to be out and look for," he added.
Gray estimates only about 10% of the county is currently signed up for the alerts. While the text alerts are just for Madison County, emergency management also takes part in the state and nationwide Smart911 system.
“It tracks information of any kind of medicine, medical history, anything you have that. So when you call 911, it puts that information up on the screen,” Gray said.
The information keeps dispatchers and first responders informed during an emergency.
“In case you’re unable to talk or communicate, they have all that information there readily at their disposal to let first responders know to get the right people to you.”
Signing up for Smart911 requires making an account. You can find that at madisoncountyky.gov/ema/alerts. You can also sign up for the Rave text alerts by texting MCEMA to 77295.
