City to debut alert system

The city of Huntington Beach is expected to run its first test tomorrow around 2 p.m. of a mass emergency alert system that can inform residents and businesses about emergencies via phone, e-mail and text messages.

Alert OC, a county-funded system, will automatically leave residents messages on their home phone numbers. Residents are encouraged to provide as many additional contacts as possible, up to two additional phone numbers, two e-mail addresses and one text number per address location. Although the police department already has a limited system for notifying residents about select emergencies, Alert OC will be “much more comprehensive,” said Laurie Payne, community relations officer for Huntington Beach.

“It’s going to make [residents’] lives easier and safer,” she said.

Alert OC began in Orange County in July 2008 and has already been implemented in several cities across the county. The Huntington Beach City Council passed the plan earlier this year.

The city can use the system to provide residents with information about planned events or public safety, but these notifications will be “very rare,” as they cost the city directly, Payne said. “We don’t want to annoy people.”

“Alert OC will significantly improve the ability for public safety agencies to communicate with our residential and business communities during emergency situations,” City Administrator Fred Wilson said in a release.

Right now, the city is able to run the emergency system at no cost to the city through 2011. After 2011, the city will reevaluate the system and decide if it’s worth footing the bill.

To ask questions about the emergency system, e-mail the city at alertoc@surfcity-hb.org.