“Boulder is the #1 flash flood risk community in Colorado.” This was written on my water bill this month (and is every spring).  Think about it.

The Big Thompson flood killed over 150 people and was caused by nothing more than rain.  The same thing can (will) happen again in many other Front Range canyons.  Will you have enough time to get out of the floodpath?

Boulder County has recently implemented a new emergency notification system to augment the current systems.  Citizens can be notified via email, text message, and cell phone calls but you must sign up! (http://BoCo911Alert.com).   This adds a new level of notification for those not near a landline, and also supplements the traditional sirens located throughout Boulder County that sound during emergencies.

Because of its wide use and rapid communication social media has vast potential to increase the safety of citizens of the world.  It is in the beginning stages, but already some see the potential.  Los Angeles Fire Department (@LAFD) has been using Twitter to notify citizens of incidents https://twitter.com/LAFD as well as an increasing number of public safety agencies throughout the world. 

9-1-1 is the most reliable way to notify of an emergency; but additional methods help increase safety.  There have been many recorded events (such as the recent Haiti Quake) where mobile texting helped notify authorities of possible dangers.  Twitter being one of the fastest growing social networks, and one of the most succinct and mobile, is a perfect place to expand this capability.

The problem: no one is on the other end.  Government Twitter streams are usually sent out by ‘bots or automatic tweeting programs.  While this is great for getting info out, it does not help use the twitterverse to receive info.  We have a lot of growing to do before we can use the social media world effectively to gather information.

Signup for mobile alerts at BoCo911Alert.com if you live or work in Boulder County, and also follow @BoCoAlert  (https://twitter.com/BoCoAlert) if you are on Twitter for Emergency only Tweets (consider having these tweets pushed directly to your mobile device).  There are a few other public safety agencies within Boulder County that sometimes have a person behind the stream.  @BoulderRescue (https://twitter.com/BoulderRescue) is one who often tweets alerts and info (From Boulder Emergency Squad) and @BoulderPolice (https://twitter.com/BoulderPolice) is another who always has valuable information to share,  and usually knows first.
Some emails exchanged with those integrating the new CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system in Boulder County left me less than satisfied with the plans to integrate mobile warning system technology into Boulder County.  However, a year later we have BoCo911Alert.com.  Awesome!  We have forward progress.

I led a discussion at PodCamp Boulder this winter about Social media and Emergencies.  We concluded that it is a great addition, but will never be a stable replacement.  The discussion was wonderful and inspiring!  There is a lot of potential for increased safety in the world, and lot of people willing to help make it happen. 

I often use social media to judge what people are interested in and what the general public knows.  Last Monday there was a shooting in Boulder (turned out to be a double homicide suicide), and at the time there was a possibility of a shooter on the loose in Boulder.  It took 3 hours for this to reach the twitterverse (and general public), which is far too long if there was actually a shooter loose, or any other major emergency in Boulder.

BoCo911Alert.com came into existence a couple months ago, and today was the first message that came through; an alert for a missing person with dementia within Boulder County.  There are two types of messages that can come through: alerts such as the one today, and emergencies such as a flood, fire, terrorist attack, etc.  Signup!  You can’t be notified if you don’t.

Also, check out BoulderFloodInfo.net  for more information of what to do during the next flood in Boulder County.