emergency

By providing your contact information, community members can sign up to receive critical emergency messages by email, phone call and text during disasters and other emergencies. Important messages may include evacuation notices, shelter-in-place instructions, shelter locations and other critical safety information.

New to PublicAlerts? When you sign up, you will first create an Everbridge Community Profile using your email address or phone number. You will then complete your Clackamas County PublicAlerts enrollment, including the contact methods and locations where you want to receive emergency notifications.

How to Sign Up for PublicAlerts

1. Select Sign Up for PublicAlerts. 
2. Create your Everbridge Community Profile using an email address or phone number and verify your account. 
3. Complete your basic Community Profile information. 
4. Continue to the Clackamas County PublicAlerts enrollment. 
5. Add your contact information and the locations where you want to receive emergency notifications. 
6. Review your information and complete your enrollment. 

You can return to Everbridge Community to manage your account and PublicAlerts information.

The system is programmed with landline phone numbers, both listed and unlisted, from telephone company records. You must sign up here in order to receive alerts by:

• Cell phone
• Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
• Email
• TTY/TDD Devices

If the call is picked up by an answering machine, it will leave a message and not call back. If the number is busy or there is no answer, the system will try contacting your other contact methods. Once you have acknowledged receipt of a message on one device, the system will stop trying to contact your other devices.

By signing up, you can receive emergency notifications for your home or any other address (such as a business). You will only be contacted when the associated address is affected by an emergency.

Current Alerts

Our community is stronger when we prepare together. Take these steps now to help get your family ready and be ClackGO Prepared!

Tips

• Mobile phone users: You may receive a popup asking you if you want to use the Everbridge mobile app. If you do not want to use the app you may click cancel and you will be directed to the registration page.
• Remember to use the "sign up for notifications" button to create an account in the new system. Already signed up for PublicAlerts? Sign in through Everbridge Community to access and manage your PublicAlerts account. Everbridge Community provides one place to manage your profile and subscriptions to participating emergency notification systems.
• Signing up for the first time: Select Sign Up for PublicAlerts and follow the prompts to create your Everbridge Community Profile. After creating your Community Profile, continue through the Clackamas County PublicAlerts enrollment process to add your contact information and locations.
• Already have a PublicAlerts account? Sign in through Everbridge Community to access and manage your PublicAlerts information. Existing accounts may be linked to your Community Profile using the email address or phone number associated with your account.

The Technology

Community Emergency Notifications

Notifications are sent based on small geographic areas via*:

• Voice Call – may be text to speech or a recorded message
• Text Message
• TTY/TDD – hearing impaired devices
• Email
• Fax
• App – Everbridge Mobile App on Android and Apple Devices 

*The system contains traditional landline data, but does not contain cell phone or VOIP phone numbers. To receive these messages via any method, other than landline phone, residents must sign-up to receive the notifications.

Example scenarios:

• Active police incident in neighborhood
• Gas leak
• Evacuation of area
• Missing endangered person that likely hasn't traveled far
• Fire/Wildfire 

Disadvantages:

• Will only reach landline phones and those who have opted-in with other contact methods
• Misses visitors to the area whom would not sign-up in the system

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Different than a text message, WEAs are popup notifications on your mobile device. These alerts are only issued through participating cell phone providers to WEA-capable devices within the alert area. 

Example scenarios:

• Dam failure
• Volcanic activity requiring evacuation or avoidance of area
• Amber Alert
• Tornado Warning
• ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning Alert

Disadvantages:

• 90-character limit without attachments — this limits our ability to provide detailed, actionable information
• Only allows for county-wide notifications that spills over into other jurisdictions — this is why Clackamas County residents have received notifications for Salem recently 

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

EAS messages are sent via television and radio to the entire Portland-Metro (Clackamas, Clark, Columbia, Multnomah and Washington Counties) media market. 

Example scenarios:

• Extreme Weather Alerts/Warnings
• 911 telephone outage of a large impacted area
• Evacuation of a large impacted area 

Disadvantages:

• Large reach — should not be used for small incidents
• Will only reach people watching TV or listening to the radio 

Frequently Asked Questions