Residents can now receive time-sensitive weather alerts via telephone calls, e-mails or text messages when there is a threat of severe weather in the area, according to the Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
Residents will be alerted when three threatening weather situations have developed:
- severe thunderstorm warnings
- flash flood warnings
- tornado warnings
Signing up for the weather alerts is free and the online registration process is user-friendly and takes no more than a few minutes to complete. But phone usage or text charges may apply and residents must register and opt-in to receive these alerts. Those who have already registered contact information with the county are not automatically registered for these severe weather alerts.
Once the information is provided during the signing-up process the geographical region of the county is determined so that person will receive an alert.
“This alert system utilizes the National Weather Service weather polygon,” EMA Coordinator Lorraine Morris said in a statement. “Therefore, a user who has signed up for the alerts will only receive a notice when a severe weather alert is issued for their specific portion of the county. The notices will be sent based on geographical regions.”
Residents are encouraged to use the new weather alert notifications in concert with other notifications, including a NOAA weather radio and the county’s outdoor severe weather sirens. The sirens, which are located throughout the county, will be sounded only when the county is placed under a tornado warning.
“This alert system is one more tool Forsyth County is employing to help our citizens be better informed and better prepared for severe weather,” Fire Chief and EMA Director Danny Bowman said in a statement. “As always, we encourage residents to be alert and stay informed of severe weather that may impact Forsyth County.”
To sign-up to receive the weather alerts click here. For more information about this tool, call the Forsyth County EMA office at 770-205-5674.
