How to sign up for emergency alerts in each Bay Area county
SAN JOSE —The massive Kincade Fire burning in Sonoma County serves as a reminder that residents can sign up to receive emergency alerts straight to their phone.
County alert systems provides critical information about earthquakes, fires, severe weather, unexpected road closures, evacuations and more.
The Kincade Fire, which started Wednesday evening, continues to grow. According to Cal Fire’s latest numbers, more than 66,000 acres have been scorched and 180,000 people have been issued evacuation orders— the most in Sonoma County history.
Evacuation information is perhaps the most important alert, as it can end up being a life-or-death situation. Wine Country residents continue to flee the flames of the Kincade Fire and some Bay Area residents were ordered to evacuate Sunday for wildfires in Vallejo and Lafayette.
Here’s how to sign up to receive emergency alerts directly from officials in each Bay Area county:
Alameda County emergency alerts
According to the county’s website, residents are able to choose alerts for specific locations and they can receive them by a call on a landline or mobile phone or by an email or text message.
Sign up for the AC Alert System here.
Contra Costa County emergency alerts
The Contra Costa County Community Warning System sends a message that includes basic information about the incident and what specific protective actions, like shelter in place, lockdown, evacuate, avoid the area, etc. The county’s website says the system is typically not used for traffic-related alerts.
Marin County emergency alerts
The Alert Marin system allows you to register up to five specific addresses per profile. That’s helpful if you’d like to receive alerts that pertain to your home, work, school or even a friend or relative’s home. You can also add more than one mobile phone deices and email addresses to your account.
Napa County emergency alerts
Napa County uses the Nixle text message alert system, which allows you any zip code (see below). The county says its home page will always have the most up-to-date information in an emergency. Other resources it lists on its website include:
- Listen to KVON radio (1440 a.m.) for emergency updates
- Call 707-299-1595 for Napa County road conditions (recorded information, for use when EOC is activated only)
- Call 707-299-1593 for Napa County emergency public information (recorded information, for use when EOC is activated only)
Subscribe to Napa County Nixle text updates here.
San Francisco emergency alerts
San Francisco uses its own alert system called AlertSF. It’s a text-based notification system for San Francisco’s residents and visitors. It will send alerts and instructions following a natural disaster, major police, fire, or health emergencies, or significant transportation disruptions to mobile subscribers.
San Mateo County emergency alerts
According to the county’s website, you can set alerts to send emergency text and voice messages to your cell phones or tablets, email accounts and landline phones.
Sign up for the San Mateo County Alert System here.
Santa Clara County emergency alerts
The county website encourages residents to sign up for AlertSCC to get emergency alerts sent directly to your cell phone or mobile device, landline, or email.
Santa Cruz County emergency alerts
According to the county’s website, residents can sign up for a text message alert system that provides emergency notification and critical community alerts.
Sign up for Santa Cruz County’s alert system here.
Solano County emergency alerts
AlertSolano will send messages to mobile or landline phones, email address, text messages for specific addresses, according to the county’s website.
Sonoma County emergency alerts
First responders will alert people in Sonoma County through SoCoAlert. You can customize the types of notifications you receive and add an additional addresses.
Nixle alerts
Some counties and cities use the Nixle system. You can opt in to receive emergency alerts simply by texting your zip code to 888-777.
PG&E alerts
Pacific Gas and Electric customers can also sign up to receive alerts about outages, something that is especially relevant recently as the company continues to monitor wind events that prompt planned power shutdowns. According to PG&E, the alerts are sent by text, email or phone call. Customers can sign up under Profile & Alerts in their online account.