Body of News Release
Marin County, CA – Thousands of people who have registered with the County’s AlertMarin emergency notification system will be contacted Saturday, September 26, as part of a countywide test. The alert, set to take place at 10 AM, helps confirm that AlertMarin is ready to deliver critical information when emergencies occur.
The Marin County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) plans to send the test message to AlertMarin registered users – by phone, text, and email, as requested during the registrant’s sign-up process. The notification will be sent in English or Spanish, based on the chosen settings.
AlertMarin is the official emergency notification system used to deliver critical information and potentially life-saving instructions to the community. The County encourages all who live or work in Marin to sign up for emergency alerts at Emergency.MarinCounty.gov. For those already registered, now is a good time to review contact information and addresses to ensure it is current and correct.
Less than 50% of households in Marin (about 46,000 homes) have at least one person registered within the AlertMarin system. For the sake of community safety, the countywide goal is to have at least one person signed up for AlertMarin in each Marin household.
“With changing weather patterns and the anticipated impacts associated with El Niño, staying informed and prepared is more important than ever,” said Marin OEM Director Steven Torrence. “All family or personal emergency preparedness plans need to include an element of staying informed and aware of emergencies. By partnering with the community and using all the tools available to us, we increase community resilience in the event of a disaster."
To assist with proactive notifications, OEM staff has created new, optional notification groups in response to community feedback requesting information about hazards that may not rise to the level of a life-threatening emergency but could still have significant impacts. The groups provide awareness-based notifications for coastal flooding and king tides, prescribed burns, riverine and creek flooding, significant traffic disruptions, and significant weather alerts. The additional groups supplement, but do not replace, AlertMarin emergency alerts For threats to life and safety.
Emergency preparedness remains one of the top concerns identified by Marin residents in community feedback surveys. In recognition, the Marin County Board of Supervisors continues to prioritize disaster readiness and response.
The County asks the community to do its part by staying informed, prepared, and connected. That begins signing up for Alert Marin and checking that contact details and addresses in the system are up to date.