EL PASO COUNTY — Around Southern Colorado, there are multiple emergency notification systems in place to send warnings about any pending danger.
In El Paso and Teller Counties for example it is called Peak Alerts.
“We can take five addresses registered, home, work, at school. And you can register up to eight points of contact, which is a phone call, text message, email, you can download the Everbridge app to get notifications,” said Ben Bills with El Paso/Teller County 911 Authority.
For people in areas with limited connectivity notifications can also be received on emergency weather radios.
When threats like natural disasters or human-caused dangers pose a potential threat, alerts are then targeted to specific geographic areas.
Bills said, “If it's a fire and they take, let's say five blocks in a subdivision, everybody in those five blocks are targeted first for notification because it's critical for them to get that information. first.”
A significant issue limiting the effectiveness of many alert systems is the large number of people who do not register.
Just over 90,000 households are registered with the Peak Alert System—the potential number is over 300,000.
“So we're about a third of the way there,” said Bills, “I think there's a lot of room for improvement there.“
Most county and/or emergency management websites have the county’s emergency plan and resources posted.
To sign up for the Peak Alerts system visit https://elpasoteller911.org/246/Peak-Alerts or for more information call (719) 785-1900. If you have questions you can also email info@elpasoteller911.org
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