WASHINGTON NOON ROTARY | CONTRIBUTED
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: John Pack, Director of Beaufort County Emergency Management, recently addressed Washington Noon Rotary (WNR) membership about emergency services in Beaufort County and the need to always stay prepared for emergency weather conditions, particularly in light of the recent multiple occurrences of flooding and tornadoes that caused disastrous damage in the area. He informed members of the “Hyper-Reach” emergency notification system availability in Beaufort County. Hyper-Reach” provides a way to send your voice, a text message, TTY (for hearing impaired), or an alarm message to as many people as are needed to reach, either using the Beaufort County Emergency Services (BCES) website or with just one phone call. The new system allows emergency messages to be sent out from a variety of devices, including selected BCES cell phones, to warn residents of an emergency within the geographical area it’s likely to affect. (For example, if a tornado tracks from Blount’s Creek to Bath to Pantego, the emergency notification will go out only to residents in those areas via phone call, email or text. Residents outside the targeted area won’t receive a notification that doesn’t affect them.) Beaufort County residents with “landline” phone service have been automatically signed up. Those who only have cellular service must obtain a form from Beaufort County Emergency Services or access the Beaufort County website at www.co.beaufort.nc.us/departments/emergency-management, click on the Hyper-Reach Link on the right of the page under the “LINKS” heading and you can fill in the form on-line. He advised attendees of how important it is to make sure to have adequate insurance that provides for wind damage and cleanup. He also spoke of how important it is to be courteous and appreciative to first responders. They are putting their life in harms way in severe weather conditions or other disasters to provide emergency services to others whom they rarely know.