Benton County prepares citizens for severe weather by offering two ways to be notified of severe weather and public emergencies. BC Alert is the county’s free, publicly available system that allows users to be forewarned about all modes of dangerous weather or notified of an emergency situation. The main focus of the alerting system is to provide severe weather notifications.
Benton County residents will also receive imminent severe weather warnings to their mobile devices similar to an amber alert through the federal Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), IPAWS sends warnings through the National Weather System (NWS) from cell towers to mobile devices in the affected area. Benton County is one of only eleven counties in the State of Arkansas that is a part of IPAWS.
BC Alert has switched over to Genasys Emergency Management (GEM) system with a new feature. The system gives users freedom to choose multiple alerting locations, what kind of notifications they want to receive, and how they want to receive them. The latest update allows users to create a family account with multiple contacts and locations. BC Alert is customizable with options to receive alerts via text, email, or phone call. People with existing accounts have been migrated to the new system. If you have an existing account, simply log in and verify your information.
How to Sign Up
To sign up for BC Alert visit: www.bcalert.com. There are three steps to sign up:
Users can also take an additional step to create a family account. Multiple phone numbers and emails can be added to a single user account. This allows families to be alerted for the same address(es) without the hassle of managing multiple accounts.
“The safety of our residents is a key pillar for Benton County. The BC Alert system is one tool we provide to forewarn people of a possible tornado or other severe weather event,” said Benton County Judge Barry Moehring. “I encourage everyone to have more than one way to receive severe weather notifications.”
“Through BC Alert, people can sign up to be notified of a winter weather advisory, tornado warning, or public emergency,” said Administrator of Public Safety Robert McGowen. “Benton County sees all forms of severe weather and we want our residents to be prepared for an emergency.”
How Does BC Alert Work?
BC Alert receives weather alert information from the National Weather Service (NWS). Once an advisory, warning, or watch is issued for a user’s selected address, the BC Alert system will send out a notification. Users are advised to check their account information yearly to ensure their settings are correct.
Users do not need to be a Benton County resident to sign up for alerts. Users can sign up to receive alerts for family member addresses or for where they work in Benton County. For help signing up, please visit our website for tutorial videos or read the FAQ.
What is GEM?
The Genasys Emergency Management (GEM) system is a multi-channel (i.e. SMS, voice, email, etc.) communication solution that provides lifesaving emergency information.