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June 22, 2020 - 2:00 PM
Thanks to the new Thompson Nicola Regional District alert system, the next time your home or property is in danger from a natural disaster, you'll find out immediately and know what to do.
Residents can register for the free system through Voyant Alert starting today, June 22, by email, text or landline. The process only takes about a minute, and asks users for their postal codes of interest and preferred method of contact.
"The best method for people to receive these alerts is directly on the smartphone app because you get a lot of great information," Debbie Sell, the regional district's director of corporate administration, said.
Users will receive details on the nature of the alert, mapping of the affected area and directions on what their next steps should be.
The regional district has been looking into creating an alert system since 2017, following the increase in wildfire activity in the region.
"We were seeing that there was interest out there from the residents in getting something like this," she said.
To ensure that the system is failsafe, the regional district has taken the time to test the technology before implementing it, she said.
Water advisories will soon be rolled into the program, and residents within the regional district system will get instant notifications via their preferred method.
Operating the alert system costs the regional district $3000 annually, and each non-emergency alert costs them between four to six cents per person. Costs for emergency notifications, flood or fire evacuation for example, will be covered by Emergency Management B.C., Sell said.
She urged Thompson-Nicola residents to sign up now, so that when there is an emergency, they will be fully prepared.
"We really want to be able to get good information out to people, especially in the event of an emergency" she said.
To sign up for the emergency alert system, go here.
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