Students and Atlanta residents can now be alerted of potential dangers via text or email through a new emergency alert system called “NotifyATL.”
The City of Atlanta’s NotifyATL sends mobile alerts about severe weather, road closures, crime alerts, missing persons, evacuations and community events, according to the NotifyATL website.
Mayor Kasim Reed launched the mass notification system on Dec. 18. to help keep residents and visitors safe by communicating with thousands of people directly, according to a City of Atlanta press release.
Christina Cruz-Benton, press information officer for The City of Atlanta, said 3,800 households have already opted in as of Jan. 4, 2016.
“The City of Atlanta is engaged in an active outreach campaign which educates the public on the new emergency notification system and encourages all to sign up,” Cruz-Benton said.
She also said Reed has previously talked about his plan for an emergency notification system, but recent events increased the need for it at this time.
“The unfortunate events that occurred in Paris and San Bernardino reinforced the need for focused and timely implementation,” she said.
How it works
NotifyATL allows anyone to create their own profile with a username and password on their website without a cost.
Once signed up, the service will send the user notifications via text message, phone call or email depending on their personal settings.
Users can choose the times they wish to be contacted and the locations they want to be notified about, such as their home address, workplace, school, etc.
After the system sends out a notification of an emergency, the user must confirm that the alert was received or else the system will continue to notify the user about the same emergency.
Georgia State student Adenike Oluyombo said she thinks NotifyATL would be a good to sign up for, but she doesn’t believe it will prevent anything.
“I don’t think the alert system would be that much of a help only, because it’s just notifying us about a crime after it happens,” Oluyombo said.
However, users can remove their contact information from their profile at any time if they wish to no longer be contacted by the mass notification system.
Types of warnings
Red, green, yellow, and automated weather alerts are the four types of NotifyATL alerts. The system lets the user to choose which alerts they want to be specifically notified about.
Oluyombo said she believes the weather component of the system could be helpful to prepare students before they head out to class and work.
Also, automated weather alerts include several weather hazards such as flooding, extreme winter weather and severe thunderstorms.
Red alerts are emergency alerts that involve crime, yellow alerts are caution alerts such as severe traffic and public health, and green alerts are informational alerts about major city and community events.
Atlanta resident Camilla Onley said NotifyATL would be a useful system for herself and the Atlanta community.
“I think this mass notification system can help, but it should not allow the user to chose what they would like to be notified about because they may miss out on an important alert,” she said.
