City of Chaffee announces free alert mass notification system

The northern Scott County city of Chaffee, Missouri, knows a little something about natural disasters and municipal officials announced Thursday a new notification system for emergencies and general citywide notifications.

Chaffee has experienced three twisters in the past 81 years -- in 1940, in 1957 and in 2011.

The most damaging twister, on Dec. 18, 1957, changed "the face of Chaffee's downtown," according to a 50-year recollection of the event, recounted in a 2007 story in the Southeast Missourian.

"That day a powerful tornado ripped through the city's downtown, shearing the fronts off two story brick building, smashing windows and causing what was estimated at over $1 million damage at the time. Before the tornado Chaffee's downtown looked much like that of Cape Girardeau's, rows of buildings two stories high. After the tornado low-slung, one-story structures took their place," the story read.

Chaffee city administrator Lee Horton said the city is partnering with CivicReady, a program of Manhattan, Kansas-based CivicPlus, to enable issuance of urgent notifications, emergency instructions, warnings and even routine communications to be sent to citizens via email, text message and voicemail alert.

"We have needed a way to communicate with citizens directly for a long time," said Horton.

"CivicReady will allow us to provide information almost instantly."

Details

• Signup via email: chaffeemo.myfreealerts.com
• Signup via text: text 63740 to 38276.
• Chaffee will use federally-allocated American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to pay to participate in CivicReady -- $2,500 a year for three years.
• Horton said 25 people have signed up for the notification program so far but he hopes the number will expand quickly. The city is advertising CivicReady on the fire department's LED sign, on the city's website and on the back of utility bills mailed to residents.

The city said it assures Chaffee residents the registration information provided will be confidential and not shared.

The CivicReady alerts are provided free of charge, however standard text messages rates and other charges may apply.

CivicReady's system, according to a news release, will also integrate with the IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert Warning System) of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"Chaffee will be able to reach as many people as possible during an emergency event, including those who have not opted-in to text, phone or email, as well as travelers and visitors to the area," the release stated.

Chaffee Mayor Steve Loucks was sitting in a car along Main Street when the 1957 tornado struck in the early evening.

Loucks said his personal experience speaks to what he sees as the current benefits CivicReady will mean for his city, saying an early alert system would likely have helped a lot 64 years ago.

"We would have done our best back then to get to a safer place than where we were," he said.

CivicPlus officials, in the news release, said the company is in the business of designing innovative solutions for local governments.

"We continually invest in our products, such as CivicReady, to strengthen and transform the way local governments serve and communicate with their citizens and are proud to partner with Chaffee to help them accomplish their public safety goals," said Ryan Strait, CivicPlus Platform Product director.