Stormy weather and the resulting emergencies can happen at any time, and officials say how best to quickly notify the public remains a priority.
With that in mind, the emergency notification system in one area county will soon be upgraded.
It was a little over a month ago, at the end of August, when a sudden storm hit the Centre County town of Millheim, resulting in several trees down and a lot of rain.
But officials say the damaged area was isolated.
“That was just an amazing, intense, very limited thunderstorm/microburst that essentially didn’t effect another locality that was only eight miles away.”
Centre County emergency communications has a Code Red system in place, to notify residents of changing weather conditions, and other emergencies.
Now, they’ll update the notification with a new system, called Rave Alert, offering targeted messages to specific communities, like what happened in Millheim, or issuing county-wide alerts.
“A lot of folks in the eastern part of the United States have been tested over the last short while. So, I think having this technology available is crucial.”
Those who have already signed up for Code Red in Centre County will automatically be transferred to Rave Alert, while others can also sign in.
The Code Red system expires at the end of the year.
