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Pasco To Test Emergency Alert System On Tuesday

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: September 22, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - With 70 days left in hurricane season, Pasco residents could know which way the winds blow if a new system to send alerts pans out tomorrow.

The first test of the pilot system is coming Tuesday, Sept. 23, Pasco emergency officials announced. The test had been postponed from Aug. 19.

The county has some 163,000 phone numbers on file that could receive the recorded, test message, according to James Johnston, operations coordinator for Pasco County Office of Emergency Management.

The system also has the capability of sending text messages to cell phones and PDAs or e-mail alerts to computers and hand-held devices, but people have to register online for those types of warnings, Johnston said.

The registration link is posted on the county emergency management Web site home page. Go online to www.pascoemergencymanagement.com/.

Warnings could be sent in minutes to thousands of residents about hurricanes or emergencies such as hazardous materials, wildfires, boil water notices or other disasters.

After the test, a survey is planned to ask Pasco residents if they like these kinds of alerts, James D. Martin, director of the Office of Emergency Management, wrote in a memo to county commissioners.

County officials also hope to find out which device is most popular for receiving the alerts – work phones, home phones, cell phones or PDA devices.

The Connect-GOV mass notification service comes from Blackboard Connect Inc.

Eventually the alert network could go statewide. The pilot program includes one million households in Pasco and three other counties. The state is paying for the program through January.

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