PORT CARBON - Following Orwigsburg and Schuylkill Haven, Port Carbon is planning to offer its residents the opportunity to get instant notifications in the event of a local emergency.
"We are in process of setting up an emergency notification system through Swiftreach. This will help not only during weather events, but also for hydrant flushing, emergency road closings and so forth," Sandra Palokas, borough secretary/treasurer, said Friday.
The history of flooding at Mill Creek is one of the reasons why the council decided to spend about $400 to purchase the service in 2011, Palokas said.
Using email and telephone, it will be a more efficient system than the borough's current method of notifying residents of an emergency.
"Currently we use our police department and the bull horn," Palokas said.
In the next few weeks, the borough will be making an effort to notify residents about how they can sign up. The borough will also include that information on its new website, which is scheduled to launch in March, Palokas said.
Since 1996, SwiftReach Networks has been one of the nation's leading providers of enhanced telecommunications solutions for businesses, nonprofit agencies, municipalities and government agencies, according to its website, swiftreach.com. The borough purchased its emergency notification service, called Swift911.
In Schuylkill Haven, the website residents visit to sign up is at http://schuylkillhaven.org/swiftreach.htm.
"Swift911 is a system that makes phone calls to specific people or areas in the event of an emergency or for sharing important information such as water boil advisories, etc. All of the calls you receive will have the Caller ID of Schuylkill Haven," according to that site.
In Orwigsburg, the webpage to sign up is http://swift911.swiftreach.com/public/200589/.