How will you know when there is an emergency in your neighbourhood? The City of Saskatoon hopes you are signed up for notifynow, the mass alert system used by emergency officials.
READ MORE: Saskatoon launches new mass notification system – NotifyNOW
The city is getting ready for a test of the system Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 10 a.m. CT. All residents with publicly available phone numbers along with those who have signed up for notifynow will get a test message at this time.
Deb Davies, the city’s emergency measures coordinator, hopes everyone takes the time to either sign up or update their information. She points to the need to have up to date contact information.
“We had a stand-off a while ago, and we targeted a four block area and sent messages telling people to stay away or shelter in place,” Davies said.
READ MORE: Social media has changed the way people respond to disasters
The problem here, according to Davies, is that those who only signed up with their home landline, they may miss the call at home, telling you to not go home.
“When you sign up, you put the addresses you want to be notified for,” Davies said, adding you can have up to 10 addresses you wish to be notified for.
“You can put whatever is relevant to you, and then you’ll get notified for something happening in your area.”
Notifynow was used this summer when a boil water advisory was impacting six Saskatoon neighbourhoods.
“That was a really good example of how well it can work. But it only will work if people are signed up.”