Allegan Alert is available for FREE to all residents and visitors

Weather emergencies and other disasters can be life changing. Don’t rely on the old ways to get the critical information you need.

There is a free service from Allegan County Emergency Management that you can register to be notified if there is a weather or other large-scale emergency in your area. It is called Allegan Alert on the Smart911 platform.

During severe weather events, Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are issued directly by the National Weather Service (NWS) to avoid duplication and ensure timely delivery of critical information. For example, the Allegan Alert message you would receive on your personal phone is generated by NWS Grand Rapids through this Smart911 system.

To sign up for Allegan Alert, or to update your Allegan Alert preferences, please follow these steps:

* Log into your Smart911 account at www.smart911.com

* Navigate to the “Alerts” section.

* Under Notification Preferences, be sure to:

* Check “Emergency Notifications from Allegan County Emergency Management”

* Select SMS Opt-in

* Enable notifications for Power Outages and Weather Alerts

These settings help ensure you receive the types of alerts that matter most to you.

If there are any issues with the signup, please email emergency@allegancounty.org

There are even more benefits to the program. Anyone can create a Smart911 account, providing call takers with important details about themselves, their families and other household information. When they contact 9-1-1, call takers can instantly see their given information, including address, medical and mental conditions, photos and even details about pets. This allows for faster, more accurate dispatch and drastically reduced response times.

The Graafschap Fire Department is glad to partner with Allegan County Emergency Management to assist with prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery of natural and man-made disasters.