Why wouldn’t residents want to sign up for a 100 percent free service which could save their lives and their loved ones? More than 3,000 did after a suspected tornado touchdown Friday and multiple tornado watches and warnings.
The question above is one Bradley County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Spence and others are asking.
“We invest in smoke alarms, weather radios, fire extinguishers and other items to protect ourselves and property. Nixle.com is totally free — all anyone with a cellphone or computer has to do is visit our website and sign up for it. It’s that easy,” Spence said.
Nixle.com was instituted by the local agency recently. It comes at no cost to anyone who will sign up for the service and will alert through email or via texting.
“The user controls what they want to receive and any updates will be posted and come immediately to the user preference — email or text,” Spence explained.
Recently, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency introduced a new smartphone application which is also free.
Ready TN was launched and is a very useful tool for weather, any emergencies such as crash information on Tennessee Department of Transportation roadways (federal and state), what to do in event of any type of community or localized emergency and many other features.
“So far, out of 41,000 family units in Bradley County, only 800 or so residents had signed up for Nixle.com notification,” said Curtis Cline, administrative officer for CBCEMA.
Friday evening, the website indicated more than 3,000 people had signed up for the virtually instant notifications posted by CBCEMA regarding the possibility of tornadoes striking.
Cline researched the new Nixle.com offering and set Bradley County up on the system.
He posts watches and alerts when needed.
“The Nixle.com site allows our messages to go to Facebook and Twitter simultaneously, keeping our residents better informed of any impending emergency situation such as weather ... and we are entering the severe weather season,” Cline said.
Just 10 months ago, tornadoes left a destructive path across 40-plus miles of Bradley County’s landscape.
South from the Leadmine Valley to northeast and northwestern Bradley County was affected by EF-1 and EF-4 tornadoes, causing widespread damage and now ... recovery.
“Most first alert systems cost between $30,000 and $50,000. I want to commend Spence and his staff for finding an innovative system that will provide the service at no cost to the county or to anyone who signs up for the emergency notifications,” said D. Gary Davis, Bradley County mayor.
“I encourage each county resident to register your email address and cellphone number — as well as those of your family members. The information is strictly confidential and is not shared or sold to anyone.
“The goal is to simply keep our residents safe should another disaster strike. To register by cell phone simply text "CBCEMA" to 888777. If you also want to receive alerts to your email just enter the information at www.nixle.com.”
