Woodward County (OK) Emergency Notification Systems
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Contents
Intro to Public Emergency Notification Systems in Woodward County
The Public Emergency Notification System in Woodward County is a part of the Regional Communications Network, or ReCoN. ReCoN is comprised of:
- The Emergency Regional Two-Way Communications system
- PENS program
- Public Safety Emergency Notification System
- The School Emergency Notification System (SENS).
For the public, a number of ways of receiving emergency messages is available.
Twitter Alerts
The Woodward County PENS program broadcasts alerts. Alerts for Woodward County incude: tornado warnings and watches, severe thunderstorm warnings & watches, and ice storm and blizzard warnings. In addition, any civil emergency messages as well as local emergency and road closure information is broadcast here.
Visit the twitter website to see how to get these messages forwarded to your cell phone or email address.
For those in Oklahoma who do not have a public notification system available, an additional twitter website is managed locally and will be available soon, called Oklahoma Alert. All tornado watches and warnings & severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for Oklahoma are posted here as soon as notifications are received, as well as earthquakes above 2.0 magnitude, in addition to worldwide earthquakes above 6.0 magnitude (posted within 20 minutes of the actual event). Active worldwide eruptive volcano information is posted as needed. During nighttime hours (between 10pm & 6am), only earthquakes of 4.0 magnitude or above in Oklahoma, or 6.5 magnitude or above worldwide are posted.
PENS Emergency Notification System
This system allows for targeted emergency notifications to be sent directly to a specialized radio receiver in your home, office or vehicle. This receiver, sold at Radio Shack of Woodward, Oklahoma, is activated by local emergency management officials to notify residents of local hazards or important information. The system is discussed here.
In addition, residents of Woodward County will soon be able to sign up to receive emergency notifications on their cellular telephones or email accounts. A pilot project for this system will begin in the community of Fort Supply in Spring 2010. Check here for program updates.
SENS, School Emergency Notification System for Woodward County
The SENS program was developed as a cost-effective way for public school systems in Woodward County to provide real-time alerts to students, parents, faculty and first responders in Woodward County. The system was developed and is managed by the City of Woodward/Woodward County Office of Emergency Management, and provides school administrators with a rapid system of sending SMS and email alerts to subscribers. This system is undergoing testing at this time and will be available to residents of Woodward County in the Summer of 2010.
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