LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Whether it’s a boil-water alert, or an active shooter in a neighborhood, Lake County officials want residents to be as informed as possible.
A new program began Thursday to ensure residents receive the important alerts.
The new alert system can send messages via text, email and through social media.
“Society is now more reliant on mobile phones than they are home phones. They’re going to be more apt to paying attention to that mobile phone,” said Lake County worker Thomas Carpenter.
Emergency Services officials said residents who sign up for the alert system will get an alert in emergencies like severe weather, a big fire, or if there’s an active-shooter incident.
Alerts can be sent by the method of a resident’s choice.
“When the Blue Rhino plant blew up, everyone was freaking out in the middle of the night. We didn’t know if we were getting bombed, or what was going on,” said resident Darcie Jackson.
Even though the county was putting out information during that incident, the old system could only reach those with home phones.
“I think a lot of people rely on their cellphones more than anything else nowadays, so you could definitely get a lot of information from that,” said Kayla Ginley.
The state is paying for the program, and it’s free of charge for residents.