CAPCOG uses a regional notification system (RNS), WarnCentralTexas.org, as a crucial public-safety tool for local governments to warn and inform residents about natural and man-made disasters happening in their own neighborhood. The tool allows government to send text message, phone calls or emails to those in the system. It is effective for notifying a large number of people in a particular location in a short period of time.
CAPCOG uses the region’s 9-1-1 phone database so all local governments can contact landline and Voice Over Internet Protocol phone numbers when an emergency occurs; however, residents have to voluntarily subscribe to the service to receive messages via text, cellphone call or email.
Messages may include content such as incident-specific information, recommended protective actions or response directives. They can be delivered to various devices that accept voice, email or SMS text content and to alpha or numeric pagers. The message sender identifies recipients, which could a single street, a neighbor, or an entire county; develops the message and determines which types of devices receive the message.
Emergency Management Coordinators and local government official throughout the 10-county region want every resident to register their mobile devices at WarnCentralTexas.org, so they can stay informed during disasters and other emergency situations. Below are some tools communities can use to easily help residents learn about WarnCentralTexas.org and encourage registration.
WarnCentralTexas.org uses one of two taglines, which are Twitter and Facebook friendly, to help promote its message and encourage registration. When using them on Twitter, there is enough characters to place the url, warncentraltexas.org, or the has tag #warncentraltexas, in a tweet. To promote self-registrations, the url is preferred. The taglines are:
Stay informed — Register to get emergency warnings in your neighborhood by text, email or phone.
Protect your family, property and self. Sign up for emergency warnings in your neighborhood by voice, text or email.
Manténgase informado — Inscríbase para avisos de emergencia en su vecindario por voz, texto o correo electrónico.
Proteja a su familia, su propiedad y a sí mismo. Regístrese para recibir avisos de emergencia en su vecindario por voz, texto o correo electrónico.
CAPCOG and Texas State University developed the following videos so local jurisdictions and the public can promote WarnCentralTexas.org via traditional and social media. They were developed to also serve as 6-second and 30-second advertisements.
Warn Central Texas Buckslip in English .pdf (print ready) .jpg.png
Warn Central Texas Buckslip in Spanish .pdf (print ready) .jpg.png
Social Media Photos and Messages
These materials also were made available so any community in the CAPCOG region can make their own promotional items. If you have created any tools to promote WarnCentralTexas.org and want to share them with the region, please let us know.