Contra Costa County Testing New Alert System

Contra Costa County is testing its community warning system Wednesday evening to ensure the efficacy of its newest telephone alert system vendor.

Residents of cities throughout the county are set to receive automated phone calls this evening as part of the test.

The phone calls are scheduled to go out at 5:30 p.m. to homes and businesses in Pittsburg and Antioch near the Dow Chemical facility; at 6 p.m. to areas in Martinez and Pacheco near the Shell oil refinery; at 6:30 p.m. to neighborhoods near the Philips 66 oil refinery in Crockett and Rodeo; and at 7 p.m. to parts of Richmond and San Pablo near the Chevron refinery, according to the sheriff's office.

Some residents will get callbacks asking them to participate in a brief survey to gauge how well the phone alert system worked, sheriff's officials said.

The following is from the Contra Costa County Community Warning System website and details ways Contra Costa County citizens can get more information in the event of an emergency:

“Where can I call for more info?”

Don’t call us, we’ll call you!  Please keep phone lines free - we may be trying to reach you with information about an incident.  Also, please don’t call 911 for further information on the incident,unless you have a life threatening emergency.  911 is not an information line and tying up these lines into dispatch centers only hampers first responders’ ability to handle the emergency. 

Instead, create an "emergency information kit" and prepare yourself to receive as much information about an incident as possible:

·       Register to receive alerts on your cell phone, text, or email at http://www.cococws.us  

·       Have your own personal siren - get a weather radio at your local electronics store

·       Bookmark the above website on your computer, laptop, or smartphone and see a map of current alerts

·       Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook at CoCoCWS