Hurricane Effects: Notify Chicago
September is Emergency Preparedness Month and although the Midwest is known more for tornadoes than hurricanes, this past weekend we experienced unusual amounts of rain and subsequent flooding, in part due to the effects of what was hurricane Ike. Major flooding has occurred in northwest Indiana and greater Chicagoland, causing evacuation of residents, school closings and traffic reroutes.
As if just in time, the City of Chicago has instituted a new city service called Notify Chicago http://notifychicago.org that provides residents with recorded telephone messages, text messages and/or e-mail alerts on various emergency and non-emergency situations taking place throughout Chicago. Residents can be notified of emergency incidents, extreme weather, major planned events, public health notifications and transportation/traffic emergencies by voice call, email, text message (cell phone/pager), and/or fax.
Optional registration of an emergency contact, including contact information of attorney and physician, as well as an Assistance Registry for those who may need assistance evacuating a building or responding to an emergency call.
The service remains up-to-date by requiring the registrant password to be changed or confirmed every 60 days or the account will be deactivated. If you are a Chicago resident and wish to take part in this service, register at the Notify Chicago website: http://notifychicago.org.
If you are not a Chicago resident, does your community offer such a registry or alert system? If you are in the GMR, feel free to share your local information in the Comments section below.
