The city of Detroit has revamped its three-year-old emergency alert system on cell phones to make it more efficient, and is pushing for additional residents to sign up for the free service.
Hilton Kincaid, chief planner for the city's Department of Homeland Security, says that up until recently about 10,000 residents were signed up for the service.
Now, with a push to promote the service, about 7,000 additional residents have signed up in the past two weeks, bringing the total to more than 17,000.
Kincaid said alerts will be for emergencies, be it extreme weather, like a tornado, or some other circumstance that might require an evacuation. He said the alert system allows a limited number of characters, but the city is able to send a link to websites as well.
To sign up for this free service, residents should simply TEXT the word “DETROIT” in the message box to the number 888777. Interested residents can also visit the Detroit Homeland Security & Emergency Management website at www.detroitmi.gov/dhsem and click on Nixle Emergency Alerts, or visit the DHSEM Facebook page at https://facebook.com/detroithsem/.
