The City of Danville has launched CivicReady, which is an enhanced emergency preparedness and mass notification system that will send immediate alerts to citizens who join the system.
Upon joining, citizens can choose to receive their alerts by email, text, and a phone call, so they never miss communication about an emergency alert, severe weather warning or community event in the area.
“This new tool allows us to communicate with citizens quickly and efficiently before, during and after an emergency or severe weather,” said Tim Duffer, assistant fire chief and emergency management coordinator. “Also, it can be used for routine events and community updates.”
Duffer added, “We encourage all citizens to join today and enter their contact information along with specific notification preferences.”
To join by using a mobile device, go to danvilleva.regroup.com/signup. To join by using a desktop computer, go to www.danvilleva.gov/notify.
When joining, Duffer said it is important for citizens to include their physical address so that they receive notifications tailored to their street or neighborhood.
CivicReady replaces the city’s previous emergency alert system, which operated under the name Danville Citizen Alert. The city no longer will send any alert through this system.
The 911 residential landline database has been added to the CivicReady system. All other methods of contact — email, text, and mobile phone — require users to opt-in by joining CivicReady.
Citizens can sign up for three public groups: emergency alerts, severe weather warnings, and routine community notifications.
CivicReady emergency notifications come from the City of Danville. Examples of these localized emergencies are boil water notices, shelter-in-place warnings and mandatory evacuations.
CivicReady severe weather notifications come directly from the National Weather Service, and it is fully integrated with the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), Tornado warnings and flash flood warnings will be sent 24 hours a day. All other weather warnings will be sent only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Routine community notifications come from the City of Danville and include upcoming events, city office closures, and street detours and lane closures.
Citizens can modify their choices at any time after sign up.
CivicReady is one of the new features of the city’s redesigned website, which offers a new look and feel and can be viewed at www.danvilleva.gov.
In addition to CivicReady, the redesigned website features a new social media hub that allows citizens to stay up to date by following the official City of Danville social media accounts.
The redesigned website maintains the current news subscription lists for local government news and announcements, public safety media releases, and public meeting notifications.