ERIE COUNTY, NY— Erie County is planning a test of its ReadyErie app alert feature to start the month of December. On Friday, December 1, 2023 at approximately 12 p.m., Erie County will send an alert through this app as a test message – no action will be needed by recipients.

People who live in, work in or travel to Erie County are encouraged to download the app for free from Google Play (Android) or Apple App Store (iPhone). Only people who have the app installed on their cell phone and who have notifications enabled will receive a test message.

To turn on notifications, go to Settings > Notifications > Push Notifications. There are also options to set alerts by ZIP code and location. Follow the prompts on your device to enable location permissions and select “Allow all the time.”

“The ReadyErie app is another way for our county’s emergency response team to update the public before and during emergencies. It is a great source of vital, up-to-date information that will help individuals and families plan and prepare for bad weather,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “It is one of many tools in our toolkit to get information about staying safe and being prepared to the people who need it, when they need it.”

“We are also using this test as a reminder for people who have this app on their phones to turn on the notifications, so that they will receive our messages and weather alerts immediately,” added Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Daniel Neaverth, Jr. “The ReadyErie app also has checklists, preparedness reminders and information about local resources for health and safety. Do you have a plan?”

Residents should also strongly consider signing up for other local phone alerts. Text your ZIP code to 38276 to receive alerts from Buffalert, for the city of Buffalo. NY ALERT is another resource for anyone in New York State to sign up to receive weather alerts and traffic disruption reports (https://alert.ny.gov ). Contact the municipalities where you live and work for information about their opt-in systems for text alerts. If you have people in your life who are not able to receive or understand text messages, sign up for alerts where they live and plan to share that information with them in a way they do understand.

For more information:

On winter preparedness tips from Erie County, visit www.erie.gov/winter

On downloading the Erie County Ready Erie app, visit www.erie.gov/readyerie

For ReadyErie instructions, visit

https://www2.erie.gov/fire/sites/www2.erie.gov.fire/files/ReadyErie%20Info-Instructions.pdf