Shelby County to partner with FEMA for new emergency notification system
Shelby County residents will soon have access to a county-wide system that will provide alerts when emergencies strike the area.
The system, announced Tuesday, is a partnership between The Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also known as FEMA.
Notifications will go out to residents during various major emergencies through FEMA's nation-wide system, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).
"The idea here is that the type of emergency that will justify this type of notices are super rare," said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. “The idea here is that using new technologies, we might be able to reach more of our community with credible information around such a crisis. To say, 'Shelter in place,' or say when the suspect is apprehended."
The IPAWS system is reserved for "major emergencies" and will feature a maximum of 360 characters, allowing the most pertinent information to be sent out to residents, Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Brenda Jones said.
"I want to reiterate that this system is used for major emergencies," Jones said. "Major disasters, terroristic acts, or imminent danger that could potentially post an immediate threat to the citizens of Shelby County."
One such emergency, Harris pointed out, was an early September shooting spree where authorities say Ezekiel Kelly drove around the county shooting people at random.
The system is similar to an Amber Alert. Anyone with a phone pinging on a tower in Shelby County will receive the notification. However, the system does have the capability to home in on a specific area in the county, should an emergency be contained to one area.
Jones referenced the shooting at a Kroger in Collierville in September 2021 as a time an alert would be centralized on a specific area, and not broadcast to the entire county.
Residents will have the ability to opt-out of notifications, but will automatically begin receiving them without having to accept or download an app.
The system was operational as of Tuesday, although it has existed since 2006 for federal use. When the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in Shelby County announced it was researching a new emergency system, FEMA reached out to offer access to IPAWS.
"[FEMA] approached us and said, 'We have a system we think will work for you,'" Jones said. "They're absolutely correct. This is a great system — a system that is powered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is a result of a presidential directive. You can't get any better than that."
The IPAWS system is free for the Shelby County to use and the county will be among the first agencies in the Mid-South to partner with FEMA for emergency notifications.
Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County residents to receive emergency notifications from FEMA
