Napier Civil Defence joins Twitter craze

The All Blacks have one, so does Dane Rumble – even the Prime Minister! Everyone, it seems, is joining the Twitter craze.

Twitter, a social networking site that has over 100 million users worldwide, allows its users to send and read other users messages (called tweets) via the internet and mobile phones.

And now Napier Civil Defence has jumped on the Twitter band wagon to enable Napier citizens to receive text alerts during a civil emergency.

Napier Civil Defence Manager, Angela Reade and Napier City Council Web Developer, Lee Tong, worked together to take advantage of the free service, which they say is an additional way of getting information and advice to the public as quickly as possible during an emergency.

“More and more people have access to the internet and mobile phones these days,” Angela says. “We’re moving with the times and meeting the ever-growing demand people have come to expect with the advancements of technology.”

Angela is quick to point out, however, that only people on the Vodafone and Telecom mobile phone networks are able to receive the text alerts as those are the only two that support Twitter.

“People shouldn’t rely on these text alerts as their main information source as it can be somewhat unreliable at times. First and foremost people should tune into their local radio station and if they can, check the Napier City Council website, which will be updated continuously as information comes in.”

The texting service will be tested at each daylight saving changeover, which also coincides with the city’s Civil Defence siren testing.

Those wanting to sign up for the text alerts should go to the Napier City Council website www.napier.govt.nz enter the keyword cdtxtalerts and follow the simple step-by-step instructions.

The launch of the texting service precedes an exciting Napier Civil Defence Open Day that will be held at the War Memorial Conference Centre, Marine Parade, on Saturday, October 16. The open day will be a “one-stop-shop” for all you need to know about Civil Defence in general, getting ready, survival kits and the new Twitter service.

In the meantime, if you have any questions please phone Napier Civil Defence on 835 7579.