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Hamilton County Can Now Send Emergency Alerts To You

Hamilton County now has a system to warn residents about emergencies and other important information. 

The new system is called Alert Hamilton County.

Residents can receive information via text message, email, home, cell or work phone.

The system is customizable and allows people to receive notification for 42 different alerts and how they would like to receive that information.

Those range from weather warning, civil emergency messages, evacuations and shelter in place warnings.

Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency Director Nick Crossley said it's another tool to keep people informed.

"So, we'll have everything from outdoor notification, we provide 24/7 coverage to activate the outdoor warning system," Crossley said. "All the way to personally calling you on your cell phone. We've also included the landlines for the county. So, if we need to seriously get ahold of people, and let them know, say you’re under a tornado warning polygon, we can call that landline and let the person know that their area is under a tornado warning."

If your 911 call gets answered at the Hamilton County Communications Center you can also setup a profile with personal information for a particular phone number.

That could include information such as people living in the household, pictures, animal information, medical information, as well as access codes into their residence.

"The target audience for this would be people who have special needs children for example, people who have special medical needs in their home front, and even for those of us who are taking care of our elderly parents, it's nice to know that you can have some information available for the firefighters and EMTs right then and there at the time of the call," said Hamilton County Communications Center Director Andy Knapp.

Hamilton County spent about $80,000 for the emergency communications upgrades.

"In time of emergencies, seconds count," said Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. "So that the more information that you get, the more prepared that you are, the more we're able to help you help yourselves, the better off everyone will be and the more safe our county will be."

Officials stressed the any information provided is completely private and secure.  It's only available to 911 call takers and first responders for 45 minutes after an initial call is made.
 

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.