COLUMBIANA – Shelby County has launched a new partnership with a notification and alert platform to keep residents, businesses and emergency personnel safe and informed with quick and reliable emergency notifications and public service announcements.

Shelby County has begun using Everbridge Resident Alerts to communicate about emergencies, severe weather, fires, floods, infrastructure announcements such as road closures and water utility maintenance, and other critical events, Shelby County Emergency Management Agency Director Hub Harvey said.

Residents are encouraged to register to immediately begin receiving these alerts, by visiting EMA.ShelbyAL.com then clicking “SIGN UP: ShelbyALerts Everbridge Notifications.”

Messages will be sent to residents on their preferred contact paths—cell phone, SMS, home phone, email, fax, pager and more—to ensure real-time access to potentially lifesaving information.

Users can submit up to five different address points—for their home, workplace, schools or anywhere for which they would like to receive relevant notifications—and choose whether to receive EMA and/or weather alerts.

Residents listed in the Shelby County, Alabama 911 database will be automatically subscribed to alerts by phone, but Everbridge allows residents to self-register, provide additional contact information or opt out.

Your contact information will be secure and never provided to outside sources or vendors, according to information provided by the Shelby County EMA.

“We have a commitment to ensure public safety, community awareness and emergency response,” Harvey said. “To uphold this, when critical information and public service announcements are available, we need to reach our residents as quickly and reliably as possible.

“The Everbridge emergency notification system allows Shelby County, Alabama to disseminate this information across all types of devices, ensuring residents have access to real-time public information when they need it the most.”