Did you find out about the water restrictions that impacted Chatham and area in late August, second hand, or, worse, not at all?
Well, CKAlert can fix that for you.
People who sign up for CKAlert will have emergency notifications sent right to their phone via text, or via email, or they’ll get a call on their landline.
It’s your choice.
But you do have to sign up to receive those immediate emergency notifications.
Eric Labadie, manager of corporate communications, said only about 7,000 Chatham-Kent residents have signed up for the service, and about 2,000 of those came in during the emergency water restrictions that impacted Chatham and surrounding communities from Mitchell’s Bay to Dresden and down to Thamesville from Aug. 29-31.
During that restriction, residents were asked to avoid showering and doing laundry, washing their cars or watering their lawns. And businesses were urged to curtail water use as well. Air trapped in the system led to the inability to filter drinking water at the normal rate, which led to the restriction until the air could be bled off.
Some residents contacted The Chatham Voice to say they never received a notification on the matter. None of them said they had signed up for CKAlert.
“It’s definitely one of the most difficult parts of that tool (CKAlert) – with the alert-ready system, people expect we can automatically send out an alert,” Labadie said. “We aren’t allowed to do that. We have to have permission. We need people to sign up.”
Signing up is as simple as visiting the CKAlert page on the municipal website.
Labadie said the system is the fastest way for citizens to learn about an emergency.
“It’s the most effective tool by far. It’s a text right to your phone. Or an email. Or a phone call to your landline if you don’t have a cell phone or a computer,” he said.
He added that CKAlert is not an app. There is no tracking of you or your phone.
“It’s basically a subscription list. We send you communications during an emergency,” Labadie explained. “We’re not sending you ice times; we’re not promoting the next show at the Capitol Theatre. It’s for emergencies.”
