In an era of information overload from sources like social media, email, websites, RSS feeds and the list goes on, it’s not hard to stay connected to what’s happening all over the world.
With that in mind, it’s never been easier to stay connected when an emergency occurs. In Henderson County, we have numerous ways to keep you informed of pending or in progress threats that may affect you. Below is a list of our public notification options we currently rely on to get the word out.
Weather Sirens
Kentucky’s #1 threat is severe weather and we get all types in Henderson County. When severe weather is imminent or pending, we use Weather Sirens to alert the public. Henderson County has 34 sirens placed near higher population centers in the Cities of Henderson, Robards and Corydon as well as throughout the county. These sirens are monitored in the Henderson Emergency Managements Operations Center 24/7 so if they have a technical issue, we are automatically alerted.
A couple things to remember about the sirens;
- With the exception of sixty seconds weekly test on Fridays at noon, we will only activate the sirens for Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings or Funnel Cloud sightings reported directly to our 911 dispatch center.
- If it’s a real emergency, the sirens will sound for three minutes, not sixty seconds. That’s your queue to get to a TV or weather radio where you can see what’s going on.
Mobile Alerting
Hyper-Reach
Hyper-Reach is an alerting system used for reverse emergency communications. It’s designed to notify mass quantities during times of emergency. It has the ability to alert using traditional telephone lines, cell phones, text messages and email account. To update your contact information or to add yourself to the notification list, go to our website and click the “sign up” link at the top of the page. This alerting system will also be used for:
- Local Emergencies
- Law Enforcement Warnings
- Shelter in Place Notifications
- Earthquakes
- Evacuations
- Fires
- Ice Storms
- Flash Flooding
- Amber Alerts
- Silver Alerts
- River Flooding
iPAWS – Integrated Public Alert and Warning System
iPaws works in conjunction with the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Hyper-Reach to notify the public through TV, Radio, Internet, email, etc.
Social Media
Henderson Emergency Management maintains active social media pages to disseminate information to the public during emergencies and non-emergencies.
- Facebook
Find us at facebook.com/hendema - Twitter
Find us as twitter.com/hendema
Radio Communications
Available at most retail stores, General Mobile Radio Service / Family Radio Service Radios are short range means of communications. We monitor all published frequencies for GMRS/FRS radios in our communications center (during times of emergencies). We can also broadcast on those frequencies to help get the word out during times when there are no telephones. More information can be found here;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service
Citizen’s Band (CB) radios
We monitor Channel 9 on the CB radio during times of wide-spread emergency or severe events.
Amateur Radio
We have all mode Amateur Radio capabilities for local, statewide and international communications in our communications center that is staffed with licensed Amateur Radio operators.
News Media
National Weather Service – Weather Radio (invaluable)
Get yourself a weather radio as soon as possible.
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