San Diego County residents who speak only Spanish — about 350,000 — now have a free app that’s been available to English speakers for several years — “push” notifications of emergencies such as fires and weather disasters.
The county’s Office of Emergency Services over the weekend rolled out a Spanish-language version of the SD Emergency app and websites: SDCountyEmergency.com, ReadySanDiego.org and SDCountyrecovery.com.
Messages will mirror the information on the English-language version, which has been downloaded 170,000 times. Residents can choose English or Spanish when fetching the free app.
The Office of Emergency Services has also partnered with Deaf Link to produce short videos that translate emergency messages into American Sign Language. The videos will include audio for vision-impaired residents.
County Supervisor Greg Cox and Holly Crawford, director of the county Office of Emergency Services introduced the app Monday.
“The SD Emergency App contains disaster preparedness information, interactive checklists to help you to create your emergency plan, build an emergency supplies kit, and when disaster strikes,” a county description says.”The SD Emergency App will keep you and your family informed with emergency updates, interactive emergency maps, and shelter locations.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has offered Spanish-language weather alerts for at least two years, saying:
“¿Está usted preparado para un peligro inminente? Hoy día, muchos dispositivos móviles pueden ofrecerte información crítica de fuentes locales en las que confías. Con una alerta de sonido y vibración Alertas Inalámbricas de Emergencia te mantienen al tanto donde estés.”
The Federal Emergency Managament Agency also has Spanish-language alerts, and the city of Los Angeles offers Spanish language text alerts via NotifyLA.
View in FEMA Multimedia Library
New app & website offer County emergency info in Spanish and in American Sign Language. http://t.co/KfHcXCPGOA
— SanDiegoCounty (@SanDiegoCounty) August 17, 2015