September is National Preparedness Month.  Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services would like to share some ideas and tips that everyone can use to keep themselves and their families safe(er) during and after emergencies.

Think About it Thursday: Week 4

Be Informed

Being ready for an emergency includes knowing where to find reliable information.  Everyone should know which resources they can trust to get preparedness tips, weather forecasts, and up-to-the-minute emergency notifications.  Here are some ideas:

Cattaraugus County Website: https://www.cattco.gov/

• News articles posted periodically as well as preparedness links at https://www.cattco.gov/oes/safety-and-preparedness

Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services’ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CattCoOES

• Our page is used for sharing training opportunities for first responders and community members, as well as weather updates and emergency information leading up to, during, and after all types of incidents.

Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services’ App: Available in the Apple App Store and Google Play by searching Cattaraugus County OES

• Our app has information about preparedness, where and how to report power outages, a way to report damage to your property after major storms, maps, weather forecasts, and emergency alert notifications.

New York Alert: https://alert.ny.gov/

• Receive free, customizable notifications by text message (or phone or email) about severe weather, transportation issues, AMBER and Silver alerts (for missing people), consumer protection, public health, and even sex offender re-location.

NY Triple Three, Triple One Text Message Alerts:

• Sign up for alerts to your cell phone by texting the name of the NY county you live in to 333111. Start a new text message and where you enter a phone number type in 333111 and in the message area type Cattaraugus (or Allegany or Chautauqua, etc.). Only one sign up per message so if you want to sign up for alerts from multiple counties then send an individual message with the next county name also to 333111.

There are many options for receiving information and emergency alerts.  Local television news channels also have reliable forecasts by TV, website, and phone app.  We also recommend each home get an emergency weather radio and familiarize yourself with it’s use. Not only do you need to have various ways to receive information, you also have to be sure you are able to power the device you plan to use to receive the alerts.  In all emergencies, accurate information is power and we want to ensure we do all we can to get that information to all of you, as soon as possible.