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County partners with Everbridge for emergency alerts

POLK COUNTY—Polk County residents can sign up for a new emergency alert system called Everbridge. 

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Monday and heard from Polk County Emergency Management Director and Fire Marshal Bobby Arledge about the new notification system. 

Arledge said Everbridge is designed to alert residents and visitors about various situations such as severe weather, fires, floods, law enforcement emergencies, large-scale power outages or maintenance, community health announcements and more. Everbridge users can customize the types of alerts they want to receive. 

The county’s towns use Nixle for alerts and the county previously used that service. 

Everbridge features multiple contact methods, two-way communication and updated weather alerts. 

The entire area was under a tornado watch on Tuesday from tropical depression Fred. Some areas were under a flash flood watch this week. 

Arledge said on Monday during the county’s meeting that predictions were the area could receive 6-8 inches of rain between Monday night and Tuesday. 

Arledge said with Everbridge, Polk County Local Government will manage the tool in coordination with other area departments and agencies. 

People can sign up for Everbridge and receive potential lifesaving information and messages either through their cell phones, home phones or email. Residents who are listed in the 911 database will be automatically subscribed to Everbridge alerts by phone. 

To sign up for Everbridge, people can visit http://polknc.info/polk-county-residents-can-receive-emergency-alerts-via-everbridge/.