Williams County is working on a new instant alert system, designed to get emergency information out to people faster and more efficiently.
It’s being called Alert86.com, but don’t let the name fool you. It’s far from just another website.
Soon, it will be visible everywhere, and it will have it’s own QR code, so you can scan it directly into your iPhone or Droid.
You won’t have to do anything to be a part of it either… if you are one of the vanishing few who actually still has a land line number listed the old fashioned way… the phone book.
Any number in the phone book will be pre=registered in the system.
But if you still have a land line, and you have an unlisted number, or if you are among the growing number of people who have dropped their land lines completely in favor of using your cell phone as your primary telephone, then you’ll need to go to the website and register.
If you don’t have internet access, you can go to any of the senior centers or public libraries.
The good news is you can register a number of addresses. For instance, if you work in one town and live in another, you can register both addresses and get warnings for storms, tornadoes, and other emergencies pertaining to both locations.
The new internet based system is meant to augment, but not yet replace, the county’s storm sirens.
Officials say they hope to have the website finished and on-line by next month.