Greenburgh improving communications with residents during emergencies

IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS AFTER FUTURE EMERGENCIES
After the recent water main break that impacted 1,000 households I received emails complaining about the lack of notification. I have been meeting with the Police Department, Public Works department and other officials –looking for ways to improve our communications when there is an emergency. I also formed a Task Force made up of community members with expertise in emergency management. We had a productive meeting with town staff on February 2nd.
.
In the future we will create a dedicated phone line. Those impacted could call a number that will include updates.
We will also activate one of the community centers to people can take showers, get water or food.
The following is a memo from Mike Marino of the Greenburgh Police.
Below is a summary of what we are implementing.
Mike Marino, Greenburgh Police IT

The Town of Greenburgh is implementing the CivicReady “AlertSense” mass notification system to enhance the delivery of time-sensitive emergency and routine communications to residents and businesses. The platform enables notifications to be disseminated through multiple channels, including voice calls, text messages, email, social media, the Town of Greenburgh website, and a dedicated telephone hotline. To promote community participation, a public outreach campaign will be conducted, incorporating mailed postcards and informational materials included with municipal correspondence such as water bills. Subscribers will have the ability to customize both the types of notifications received and their preferred methods of communication.
Emergency notifications may also be distributed to non-subscribers through the use of confidential, verified telephone directory data, which is utilized solely for designated emergency purposes. These communications may be delivered in multiple languages and are geographically targeted to reach individuals likely to be affected by specific incidents. Emergency alerts will also be simultaneously transmitted to municipal officials, including Town Board members and designated Fire District contacts. Residents and businesses may register for the service through online self-registration forms, the CivicReady myAlerts mobile application, and text-to-join options, with an emphasis on streamlining the registration process to encourage broad participation.
Emergency notifications are defined as incidents presenting a significant risk to public health, safety, or welfare, including threats to life or property, disaster-related information, evacuation or shelter-in-place orders, public health emergencies, and boil water advisories. Routine notifications consist of non-emergency communications related to daily municipal operations, such as changes to trash collection schedules, office closures, road or traffic updates, event announcements, and other general information.