(Washington, DC) Mayor Anthony A. Williams today formally unveiled Alert DC, the District of Columbia’s new citizen emergency notification system. The program provides citizens with three different ways to learn about emergencies in the District and surrounding areas.
“The question we have heard over and over from citizens is ‘How will I know that something has happened?’ Alert DC gives us the ability to provide immediate emergency notification and information to citizens using a variety of communication methods,” said Mayor Williams.
Text Alert DC allows citizens to receive emergency messages about an event on text-capable devices - cell phone, computer email, pager and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Citizens must enroll online at Alert.dc.gov and be able to identify the types of their devices and their access numbers or addresses. They must also select the neighborhoods and/or schools about which they wish to receive messages.
Voice Alert DC allows emergency managers to notify citizens by telephone of an actual or impending incident that may require them to take some protective action (evacuate, shelter-in-place, etc.). Emergency managers can select very precise geographic areas and call the phones in that area to deliver emergency instructions. Instructions can be delivered in multiple languages and formatted for devices for the hearing impaired. Home and most business lines are automatically registered; the system will be modified at a future date to register cell phone numbers.
The District Emergency Management Agency (DCEMA) is installing and testing new equipment in conjunction with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency at several area radio and television stations as part of its management of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), the partnership with local media outlets.
The new equipment is being provided to a number of local stations including WBIG-FM, WASH-FM, WWDC-FM, WMZQ-FM, WTEM-AM, WWRC-AM, WIHT-FM, WPGC-FM & AM, WTOP-AM, WGMS-FM, WMAL-AM, WRQX-FM, WJZW-FM, WHUR-FM and News Channel 8/WJLA TV Channel 7. DCEMA is also in the process of installing equipment at the National Weather Service that will allow broadcast over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather alert radio system.
The new equipment will allow DCEMA to transmit via satellite or the Internet, emergency messages or priority news information simultaneously to each of the stations and NOAA for broadcast to the public and for relay of the information to other local stations for their use. This replaces the old system under which DCEMA notified one station, which then notified other stations one by one.