The Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency is rolling out a new app to complement its weather alert service.
Cumberland County EMA Assistant Director Christopher Cox, said the app uses data from the weather service to inform and alert residents to weather activity around Cumberland County. He said the app was inspired by another similar program available to Putnam County residents.
“We encourage everybody to, obviously, download the app,” Cox said, “We don’t, we don’t encourage everybody to just solely rely on the app. We encourage everybody to have multiple ways of receiving weather notifications. Obviously, the number one thing would be a NOAA weather radio but a good backup would be our app.”
Cox said the app can give more detailed information about a tornado, including wind speeds and whether it was radar indicated or observed. He said the app also provides a way to report storm damage afterwards to aid cleanup. Cox said the app can also alert residents to nearby emergency shelters.
“When it comes to our app, it’s more versatile than just a siren,” Cox said. “When a siren goes off, there’s no information relayed to why the siren is going off.”
The app is free on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. In addition to weather, the app also provides information about school closures and road conditions. Cox said the app is also a more immediately obvious warning than sirens.
“The sirens are not a great indoor warning device,” Cox said, “Especially for this day and time, where you have homes are built a lot more insulated than they were. Sirens are not a good form for warning people that are inside structures.”
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