State encourages New Mexicans to enable emergency alerts
Enabling local emergency messaging, signing up for additional updates
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) is encouraging residents and visitors to enable emergency alerts on their phones in order to stay informed of evacuations or severe weather.
Some cell phone devices do not come with local emergency alerts enabled, which prevents users from receiving lifesaving information. Enabling these alerts can be done in less than a minute by following these steps:
- Open setting app
- Go to “Notifications”
- Scroll to the bottom and select “Emergency Alerts”
- Enable “Local Awareness”
Residents should also ensure other emergency alerts are enabled by following the same steps.
Those who receive an alert should follow any action advised by the emergency message. Seek more details from your favorite TV or radio station, NOAA Weather Radio, news website, desktop application, mobile application, or other trusted source of information.
It is important to understand emergency alerts and risks. A Severe Weather Watch means that severe weather is possible and those in the area should be prepared and have a plan to take action. A Severe Weather Warning means that severe weather is happening or about to happen and those in the area should take action immediately. More information from the National Weather Service can be found here.
Those who need help following flooding, fires, or other disasters can call the State Disaster Helpline at 1-833-663-4736. A State Disaster Resource Center is open in Ruidoso from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Ruidoso Middle school, 124 Warrior Dr, Ruidoso, NM 88345. More information can be found on DHSEM’s website.