Residents urged to sign up for Community Alert System
KINGSPORT ‚¬â€ Kingsport/Sullivan County 911s new Community Alert System will alert citizens in the Greater Kingsport area to eminent danger from perilous conditions and is now open for pre-registration. If residents have already signed up for the Citys former Code Red system, that information will be transferred into the new system, although residents are also urged to enter a cell phone number to receive text alerts as well.
City officials say the alerts are another avenue to inform the public of potentially dangerous weather conditions or local emergencies created by tractor-trailer, train or industrial accidents. Because of the unforeseen nature of some emergencies, no one can guarantee that everyone will receive a timely notification, so it is important to monitor media outlets as well.
The new Cassidian system can place 700 calls per minute and can be tailored to differing situations, such as only contacting a particular neighborhood about a specific issue or localized emergency.
The City is also considering replacing two existing sirens at Eastman and Domtar and adding two new ones elsewhere in the city at a cost of about $150,000.