Johnson County has launched a new emergency notification system that allows local governments and utilities to alert residents with urgent information.
NotifyJoCo lets residents receive emergency notifications via phone calls, text messages and email messages. It is available at no charge to Johnson County residents. The county conducted a test run of the system yesterday as part of Severe Weather Alert Week.
The initial roll out of the system is a collaboration between the county, Water One, and the municipalities of Lenexa, Mission Hills, Olathe, Overland Park and Shawnee. In Prairie Village and Mission Hills, the system will ultimately replace the Code Red phone alert system used the past few years.
The system is able to send out at least 100,000 notifications an hour. Johnson County officials the system will be used to alert residents of tornado warnings, evacuation notices and public health alerts. In the future, participating municipalities will be able to use the system to alert residents to things like pool closures.
To sign up for the service, visit NotifyJoCo.org.
