App available for both iPhone and Android systems
Mitchell County is now offering an app for smartphones to help residents stay aware of emergency events.
Mitchell Ready is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play, according to a Mitchell County Emergency Management release. The app will operate in addition to Hyper-Reach, an email and text alert system that many in Mitchell County have already signed up for.
“We’re trying to create a layered approach to getting notifications out to people, for everything from Hyper-Reach to IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert & Warning System), which is the federal version that lets you send stuff straight to your phone,” Emergency Management Deputy Director John Masters said at a recent Mitchell County Board of Commissioners meeting.
The app is designed to let users know about important emergency information in real time, such as weather conditions, road closures, school closures and power outages.
“There is no better time than now to be prepared and informed,” Emergency Management Director Andrew Brewer said in the release. “The Mitchell Ready app, paired with our Hyper-Reach notification system, ensures that every resident has the tools they need to stay safe and connected. We are looking forward to the future ahead.”
To sign up for Hyper-Reach alerts, visit: hyper-reach.com/ncmitchellsignup.html
“Hyper-reach is something that we’ve had for several years but not had a lot of traction on, but that’ll also send a notification to your phone,” Masters said to the commissioners. “Good thing about this, it does similar things, but in some ways it’s a little different. This also has a lot of preparedness tools.”
In addition to alerts, Masters said, the Mitchell Ready app will offer checklists of everything needed to prepare for a specific situation in the next 72 hours.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice to have that September 26th?” Masters said, referencing the day before floods hit the county last year. “It would have been nice.”