Residents of the City of Steinbach are now able to receive critical emergency notifications by phone, text and email message thanks to the City’s new emergency notification system, Steinbach Alert Now.
Steinbach Alert Now allows citizens to sign up and provide the contact information that will be most effective reaching them in the event of an emergency. Voice, text and email messages will be sent to all registered contacts in an impacted area during an emergency. Evacuation notices, emergency instructions, direction to emergency reception centres as well as information on family reunification will be among the messages that could be sent out during an emergency situation.
“We are very excited about offering a service that has the ability to reach people in the City of Steinbach with information quickly, using the method that suits them best,” said Denis Vassart, Steinbach’s Emergency Coordinator. For Vassart, a system like this has been on his wish list for residents for the last decade, but cautions it is only effective with public participation, “This tool will help us keep residents informed, but it only works if people sign up to ensure they receive the notifications.”
While the City has access to some resident and business contact information through publicly available sources, such as the White Pages, this represents only a small portion of contact numbers for citizens. Residents are encouraged to sign up for notifications for their home, work and other addresses important to them and to tell friends and family to do the same.
Although happy to have the system in place, Vassart hopes it doesn’t get a lot of use, “There were several tornado watches this summer in Steinbach, and if they had been upgraded to a warning that is something we would broadcast over the system. It will only be used when there is an emergency that threatens people or property within the City of Steinbach. Other than that we will test the system twice a year and encourage people to keep their contact information current.”
City of Steinbach residents can sign up by going to the City’s website. Residents that do not have internet access can make use of the computers at the Jake Epp Library or visit City Hall.
