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What is the Catawba County Community Alert System (CAS)?
Catawba County has created an emergency notification system for its citizens. The Community Alert System (CAS) will be used only in the event of an emergency to disseminate important emergency notifications and updates.
Click to register now for CAS!
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What types of alerts will be sent?
Messages may include alerts about major emergencies such as floods, chemical spills, major fires, acts of terrorism, and weather-related emergencies, and what to do in those situations.
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Will I be contacted about non-emergencies?
The primary purpose of the Community Alert System is to let you know of major emergencies. It may be used to contact you about other items of interest such as flu or rabies vaccination clinics in your area, zoning meetings, or selected Board of Commissioners meetings. During the registration process, you may check a box to indicate that you do not want any non-emergency alerts.
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How are alerts sent and how do I receive them?
In a real emergency, you will be given the latest information through one or more of the following ways: e-mail, cell phone, text message, or calls to the phone numbers you gave when you signed up for this free service. In order to receive these alerts, go to www.catawbacountync.gov/alert.CASreg.asp.
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Does this service cost me anything?
Catawba County is offering the Community Alert System free of charge. Depending on your cell phone carrier and your service plan with your carrier, you may incur a few cents charge for each text message received. Catawba County does not assume any responsibilities for text-message or cell phone charges incurred by you from your cell phone carrier.
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How does the Community Alert System work?
In a major emergency, alert messages will be sent by authorized Catawba County employees. You should heed these messages quickly and follow the instructions they contain.
The system has the ability to send e-mail and cell phone text messages throughout the emergency to keep you informed. Even if cell phone calls are busy, cell phone text messages should continue to reach you.
If you do receive an alert message, please follow the instructions on that message. PLEASE DO NOT CALL 911 or Catawba County’s Department of Emergency Services as they are already aware of the emergency -- and your call will tie up precious resources and available phone lines.
We will update the County's website www.catawbacountync.gov as often as possible with additional information about the emergency. In addition, you should tune to local television and radio stations. (Remember to keep a battery-operated radio on hand.)
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Is my cell phone reliable in a major emergency?
In an emergency, your cell phone is only as reliable as your carrier's network. Text messages are delivered to your cell phone in a more reliable way than voice calls. Therefore, during a major emergency, text messages are more likely to be received. This is why we encourage you to register more than one way for us to contact you with alert information.
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What is text-messaging and how do I sign-up for it?
Text messages are short messages delivered to your phone, similar to an e-mail or a page. Text messages can only contain between 100 and 160 characters (approximately 15 words) depending on the carrier. A text message would arrive in the same way a voice mail notification arrives.
Most cell phone providers activate text message service automatically, but you should check with you carrier to ensure that text messaging has been activated on your cell phone.
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What if I signed up, but wasn't alerted?
There are several possible reasons why:
1. Someone else picked up your phone.
2. You didn’t recognize the sender, so you deleted the message without reading it.
3. The email was blocked or caught as “Spam” by your computer’s filter.
4. You provided the wrong phone number or email address.
5. Your phone number and/or email address has changed since registration.
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How do I ensure that Community Alert System (CAS) messages do not get caught in my spam/junk e-mail folder?
Configure your spam/junk e-mail settings to recognize e-mails from CAS@catawbacountync.gov and the messages should arrive in your inbox without being filtered to a junk e-mail folder.
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How soon after I give you my information will I be entered into the Community Alert System?
New information is added to our system once a week.
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