Frequently Asked Questions: Delco Alerts

Delco Alerts is an emergency alert system that allows you to opt in to receive notifications via phone calls, text messages and/or emails based on the locations (addresses) you enter into the system.

Please note that there are some portions of Westerville, Columbus and Dublin that are located in Delaware County but receive their 9-1-1 service from those cities. Addresses in those portions of the county would not be able to sign up for Delco Alerts.

The system has been created by a company called Everbridge. Delaware County’s Emergency Communications Department has contracted with Everbridge since May 2017 to provide this service. It is funded by Delaware County’s sales tax and costs about $25,000 per year.

Go to https://emergencycomms.co.delaware.oh.us/delco-alerts/, click on the Sign Up button and follow the prompts from there.

There are two categories of notifications listed under “My Subscriptions” in your account profile. You can select (and unselect) any of the options in these categories.

The first one is for General Notifications and these include:

• Shelter in Place/Evacuation
• Missing persons
• Other Emergency Notifications

Then there is a category for Weather and there are nine of these:

• High Wind Warning
• Flash Flood Warning
• Blizzard Warning
• Freezing Rain Warning
• Winter Storm Warning
• Severe Thunderstorm Warning
• Severe Thunderstorm Watch
• Tornado Warning
• Tornado Watch

Any of the General Notifications are generated locally by the Delaware County 9-1-1 Center personnel or Sheriff’s Office personnel. They can be used for any nature of police, fire or EMS event. Staff is notified, most often by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, about an emergency event and a staff member logs into the Everbridge system, types in a message and then sends it out.

The Weather notifications (except for the Snow Level Alerts) are sent out automatically when the National Weather Service issues a weather watch or warning (remember: a “watch” means that conditions are ripe for a particular type of weather event to happen, and a “warning” means that this event is happening now). These notifications are based on locations called “polygons.” Polygons are small, well-defined geographic areas. Because the National Weather Service methodology is so precise, it can issue a watch or warning for only those polygons that are affected. If your address is in an affected polygon, you will receive a Delco Alert for it.

Yes. Anyone anywhere can create an account on our system and you can also enter multiple addresses to receive notifications for (for example, your home, your workplace, your children’s school). However, there are some portions of Westerville, Columbus and Dublin that are located in Delaware County but receive their 9-1-1 service from those cities. Addresses in those portions of the county would not be able to sign up for Delco Alerts.

The Weather notifications, which are generated automatically by the National Weather Service, are based on locations called “polygons.” These are small, well-defined geographic areas. Because the National Weather Service methodology is so precise, it can issue a watch or warning for only those polygons that are affected. If your address is in an affected polygon, you will receive a Delco Alert for it.

There are 16 outdoor warning sirens in Delaware County that can be activated by the Delaware County 9-1-1 Center’s staff. They will all be activated if a tornado warning (but NOT a watch) is issued for any location in the county. It is therefore possible that you might hear a siren but not receive a Delco Alert because your address is not in an affected polygon.

Please note that the decision to build an outdoor warning siren rests with local jurisdictions (cities, villages and townships). Many communities, including the city of Powell, do not have any outdoor warning sirens, though residents in those communities might sometimes hear sirens from across the Franklin County border.

No.

Log into your account profile and click on the Edit link next to My Subscriptions.

Log into your account profile and remove all of your contact information (address, text, email and/or phone).