BAY Alerts - Bay County Emergency Notification System
For Immediate Release, Contact Ryan Manz at 989-895-4112
Bay County is pleased to announce that after several months of data integration, training, testing, and fine tuning the new and improved BAY Alerts system is ready to launch. The new system is a vast improvement over the old system, and as such, has many new features.
The system is intended to notify residents of emergencies or critical situations and provide information regarding necessary actions, such as evacuation and shelter-in-place. "This initiative addresses the primary concerns of not only keeping people safe, but keeping people informed during an emergency. This is one of the tools that9-1-1 has to augment other notification systems, such as outdoor warning sirens and the Emergency Alert System, through which emergency information can be shared with our residents." said Bay County Emergency Management Coordinator Ryan Manz.
BAY Alerts notifies Bay County residents in multiple ways. First, Bay County residents who sign-up for BAY Alerts will receive text or email alerts advising them of emergency information like, severe thunderstorm, tornado, and winter storm warnings. Residents can also choose to sign-up for additional Alerts such as road closures and traffic alerts.
Secondly,BAY Alerts utilizes the telephone companies’ 911 database and is able to contact land-line telephone numbers. BAY Alerts will notify residents via land-line telephone during emergencies such as severe storm impacts and evacuations. If the call is picked up by an answering machine or voicemail, BAY Alerts will leave a recorded message. The system is also TTY/TDD compatible.
“All of the users of the previous BAY Alerts system have been imported into the new system. But with all of the new features this system allows, everyone will need to visit the website and create a new profile.” said Ryan Manz. Starting Friday, October 16th there will be several messages pushed out to the previous users, via text and email, providing them with information on where to go to register.
To register for the new BAY Alerts system, Bay County residents can go to www.baycounty-mi.gov/ESHS. For more information, contact Ryan Manz, Bay County Emergency Management Coordinator, (989)895-4112.