With the possibility of a few strong to severe thunderstorms this afternoon through late this evening, now is a good time for Caldwell Countians to sign up with Hyper-Reach to receive emergency notifications.
Caldwell County Fiscal Court previously approved the switch from Code Red Alerts to Hyper-Reach and signed a one-year contract which went into effect October 1st. If you still have Code Red, be aware you will not receive any weather warnings if any are issued unless you register with Hyper-Reach.
As previously reported by the News Edge, Caldwell County Emergency Management Director Joey McCaslin said Hyper-Reach will provide rapid notifications of hazardous and urgent situations using a mix of telephone calls, text messages, email messages, and even TTY/TDD service for the hearing impaired. He added that this system sends thousands of messages to geographically targeted households in seconds and can simultaneously deliver them to an even broader audience via social media, as well as sending broadcast messages to most current mobile telephones (made since 2011) in an affected area by providing access to FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. If you have an Alexa device, he says it can also send the alert through it.
McCaslin and county officials are encouraging residents and people who work in Caldwell County to enroll now (using a county address) either by calling or texting “Alert” to 270-398-7808 or by going to the website: http://hyper-reach.com/kycaldwellsignup.html.
According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, a few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon through late this evening. The greatest severe weather threat will be between 4 p.m. this afternoon and midnight tonight. A few storms may linger across the Pennyrile after midnight. Damaging winds, large hail, and an isolated tornado are the main threats.
