Pendleton County Emergency Management is reminding residents to sign up for community alerts. Hyper-Reach keeps citizens informed about important situations.
With crazy weather happening all over the country and a local history that includes “killer floods,” wildfires and severe weather, Pendleton County residents need to know when there are hazards that threaten their lives and property. So, the Pendleton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security is inviting all residents to sign up or update their registration for Hyper-Reach community alerts. The county has been using Hyper-Reach, a state of the art mass emergency notification system, since 2017.
Residents and people who work in Pendleton County are encouraged to enroll now either by calling or texting “Alert” to 304-802-2072 or by going to the website at https://bot/ly.PendletonWVAlerts.
The Hyper-Reach system provides rapid notification of important information using telephone calls, text and email messages, TTY service for the hearing impaired and even announcements over “smart speakers,” like Amazon’s Alexa units. The system sends messages to folks in specific areas and can also deliver them to social media sites to reach even more people.
“Our job is to protect the citizens of Pendleton County as effectively and cost-effectively as possible,” said Bruce Minor, director of emergency management and homeland security. “When there are hazards that threaten the safety of county residents, it’s great to have a tool like Hyper-Reach to get the word out fast.”
In addition to alerts about weather and wildfires, the county uses the service of alerts about boil water alerts, power outages and other utility issues. Although landline phones are automatically enrolled for some announcements, because so many folks have disconnected their landlines and only use a mobile phone, it’s important to sign up and get these important alerts.
Citizens can also download the Hyper-Reach Anywhere app on their smartphone. Hyper-Reach Anywhere is a free smartphone app that allows individual citizens to manage and monitor the alerts they receive, both for their home and office addresses and for other addresses they care about such as those of elderly relatives or friends. A person can find the Hyper-Reach Anywhere app on both the Apple App store and Google Play.
“We’re honored to serve Pendleton County with our emergency alert services,” said Sam Asher, president of Hyper-Reach. “It’s gratifying to be part of an effort to save lives and protect property and we take that responsibility very seriously.”