When there’s a wildfire, earthquake or power shutoff, people expect an emergency alert, but 2 Investigates found that only a small fraction of residents in most Bay Area counties have signed up for those warning messages, and because every county has its own policies, procedures, and software, even those who opt in won’t always be covered.
The patchwork of emergency alert systems in Northern California makes staying informed and connected with the right emergency notifications extremely difficult and confusing, especially if a person lives in one county and works in another. Across the Bay Area, most counties have less than 15% of people opting-in, according to data reviewed by 2 Investigates, but some counties have far fewer registrants.