VERMILION PARISH, La. (KLFY) – The Vermilion Parish Police Jury and the Vermilion Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness have a new alert system called Rave.

It was created to keep residents informed and safe in a hurricane or other emergencies requiring immediate attention. It will give residents alerts right away in real-time. 

Cristian Lejeune, the Digital Media Assistant for Abbeville says that the old system used was Nixle. Unlike Nixle, Rave allows an app you can download to your phone. “There is a QR code that you can scan that will bring you directly to your app store, whether you're on Google or an Android. It is called Smart 911. You will have to create an account, but once you create an account, you'll be able to opt in to account-specific alerts as well,” said Lejeune. 

Residents can get alerts that come from the Governor's Homeland Security Office. Also, the United Way, which is used when hurricanes come in and FEMA is involved. “It has other accessibility to those other government entities that are using the exact same things,” she said. 

Residents sign up and parish-wide alerts by texting the word "????????????????????????????????????" to ????????????????????, and you will receive alerts directly to your phone. You can also get town-specific alerts including ????????????????????????????????????, ????????????????????, ????????????????????????, ????????????????????????????, ????????????????????????????????????, ????????????????????????????. 

For example, she explained, “If there is a boil advisory in your town, then your people within your municipality can send out that alert and let you know there is a boil advisory going on.

You can opt-in to have alerts from every town you would like, or you can just choose to opt into the alerts that matter to you, to where you live.” 

Residents also can choose how they want to receive alerts in the app either by text, call, or phone. If you don’t have a cell phone. Alerts can also be sent to your home phone, as 911 numbers have been input into the system.

“Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a cell phone or has that option. So if you have a landline or if you worry about your grandparents only having a landline and not having a cell phone, their numbers are automatically uploaded from the 911 system into the Rave software. So if there is an alert that comes from the OEP office, they will get those same alerts and it's really important at this time of the year with it being hurricane season,” she said. “As of right now, the only way you can opt into a town-specific alert will be through the app. We are looking at other options and we will have that information available at a later time on how you can maybe opt into a town-specific.” 

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