MoCo Emergency System Test tomorrow

Monterey County to Test Emergency Notification System
If you get a phone call, text message or email from Monterey County’s emergency notification system on Thursday, October 15th, don’t panic. This is one message you’ll be happy to receive.

The County will hold its annual community test of the Alert Monterey County system on October 15th, the same day as the Great Shake Out earthquake drill.

The Alert Monterey County system is used to notify the public of important public safety information such as natural disasters, evacuations, wide-area power blackouts, urgent law enforcement operations, and missing persons or kidnapped children. Landline phones are called automatically, but if you have a cell phone, you won’t receive messages unless you have registered your phone in the Alert System.

Registration is quick and easy online, and it allows you to select how you want to receive emergency messages and what areas of the county you wish to receive notifications about. Prior to last year’s notification test, more than 600 residents registered cell phones to receive notifications.

“We are always looking to reach those who just haven’t signed up yet or are new to the area particularly with the specter of winter storms on the horizon,” says Monterey County Emergency Services Manager Sherrie Collins. “Emergency notifications via cell phones are a highly successful way to disseminate critical information to area residents during emergencies. Testing the system ensures that it will be ready when we need it.”

The Alert test will take place on Thursday, October 15th between Noon and 12:30 p.m., after the Great Shake Out drill, which takes place at 10:15 a.m. If this were a real emergency, county residents would duck, cover and hold, then receive critical disaster information.

It is important to note that you will only receive a message if you have registered for Alert Monterey County prior to October 15th. For more information on Alert Monterey County, check out the FAQs and other emergency information on the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services webpages.

What to expect

A short message identifying itself as a test of the Monterey County Emergency Notification System, delivered via the method that you designated upon sign up (call, text, email, or VOIP) on Thursday, October 15th. Your caller ID will read 831-796-1908. Add this number to your contacts to identify future emergency messages from Alert MontereyCounty.