Hays County residents who signed up for emergency alerts will now see a new phone number when they receive a call or text from the system. The Office of Emergency Services (OES) reminds everyone to not miss out on important and potentially life-saving information by adding 737-214-1420 to their phone contacts as Hays County Emergency Alerts.
According to Emergency Services Planner Laurie Taylor, the change stems from the vendor Hays County uses.
“We use an emergency alert system called Everbridge,” Taylor said. “Now we have a new phone number that will come up on your smartphone and we don’t want anyone to miss out on emergency messages because they don’t recognize the number.”
She explained that creating or updating a contact for the warning system will help ensure that those signed up for alerts know when they receive one because it will be pre-programmed into their phone contact list.
Taylor said the outreach on this important message is a good time to get other county residents to sign up to receive alerts, which include weather warnings and other emergency information.
“Just visit warncentraltexas.org and sign up,” she said. “It’s easy, free and could save your life.”
NOTE: Some residents within the county may receive alerts from their municipality if they live within a city’s limits. Some of those entities have their own emergency alert number. OES recommends adding those different numbers to phone contacts to ensure alerts don’t get lost or ignored.
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