Notify Me Now system only for planned power outages

By Collin Gallant on June 12, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

A message sent out on the city’s Notify Me Now system warned residents of a power outage in Redcliff Sunday, but not of wind damage in Medicine Hat the night before or local power outages.

Emergency officials state however, that is the way the contact system is designed.

The procedure, said city director of emergency manager Merrick Brown, leaves weather emergencies to the Alberta Emergency Alert system.

Only significant, planned utility disruptions are broadcast via the Notify Me system, while general updates are communicated via social media.

That is why crews turning off the Redcliff grid, which services 6,000 town residents, produced a message, while hundreds of Hatters left without power for 27 hours did not.

“We chose to use it similarly to October 2017 windstorm when crews had to shut down large areas in order to restore (full) power,” said Brown. “The last thing we want to do is provide updates through Notify Me Now, because that can lead to ‘alert fatigue’ with people getting text messages on an hourly basis.”

Extremely strong winds blew into Medicine Hat shortly after dinner Saturday, knocking out power to about 6,700 homes for most of the evening.

One isolated pocket of residences on the Southeast Hill were without power until late Sunday after a downed tree fell on lines, causing at least back lane power poles to snap.

A midday message on Sunday from the Notify Me Now told all registered users that power line crews would need to power down the Redcliff grid in order to enact permanent repairs.

Notify Me Now tailors messages and broadcasts to phones, cellphones and email addresses specific to certain locations listed by citizens who register for the program.

When the system was adopted in 2016, council members asked if it could be extended to include utility outages, but planners said too many messages would lessen effectiveness.

In terms of wind warnings, local authorities say they don’t have the expertise to monitor weather patterns. Those kinds of alerts typically originate with Environment Canada and are sent out on the Alberta Emergency broadcast system.

Such emergency alerts for floods, fires, chemical leaks and others are created for the provincial system by local managers, which are forwarded for Emergency Alert broadcast.

The service, which costs the city about $20,000 per year, also acts as a emergency communication system that city officials use to direct crews and employees.

The only other city-wide message was broadcast last October when a wind storm caused heavy damage across the city and region. A blanket message the next morning gave a general statement of the damage and directed residents to the city’s website to find out more information.

Brown said crews performed well during the this weekend’s storm. General cleanup of branches was continuing in parks and streets on Monday afternoon.