Residents in the Municipal District of St. Stephen have a new way to be notified in emergency situations.
The Charlotte County municipality recently started using a mass notification software called Alertable.
Jeff Renaud, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, said the software replaces the old Sentinel system they used to use.
“We’re able to use it for emergency response but also for more mundane things like notifying our citizens of events or council meetings,” Renaud said in a recent interview.
Renaud said the system had a couple of benefits over its competitors, such as automatically receiving all messages issued through the Alert Ready system and by Environment Canada.
The system got its first real test just days after going live when post-tropical storm Lee moved through the region.
Renaud said the municipality issued 22 advisory posts, in addition to the alerts that were broadcast by Environment Canada.
“We were really happy with that,” he said, adding that about 590 people had already signed up as of Sept. 21.
Residents can download the free Alertable app to receive those notifications on their smartphones.
If you do not have a smartphone or do not want to download the app, Renaud said there are other ways to be notified.
“You can sign up to get emails, text messages, or the ability for you just to register a phone number and then the system will call and read you the message,” he said.
The new system is expected to cost the municipality about $4,500 per year.
You can find more details through the Municipal District of St. Stephen’s website.
