New program to inform residents of large-scale emergencies

Douglas County and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office are rolling out a new public-safety map that will help residents identify the location of current large-scale emergencies, evacuation areas, and road closures.

“This program is going to be a vital way to actively update the public during an active situation or emergency,” said Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley. “We are excited to be launching this state-of-the-art program to help keep the community safe and informed with live updates during an emergency.”

Perimeter is a new mapping software that allows first-responders to enter incident locations and draw a perimeter around evacuation zones or map road closures, and instantly share this information with the public.

“This program will help educate the public on evacuation terminology, what to expect during evacuation in Douglas County, and where to find timely and accurate information during a crisis or critical event,” said Community Relations Manager Eric Cachinero. “Individuals can simply visit the public map and see if their area is affected by the evacuation. No application or software download is necessary.”

 The Perimeter application will only be updated during emergency events such as, flooding, wildfires, earthquakes and others. When the event triggers the activation of the Perimeter application, Douglas County Emergency Communications will notify the public in the area of an evacuation zone. This does not replace any other alert notification system that residents have signed up for, such as the County Reverse 911 system (information below).

Perimeter was created in 2018 by programmers in Sonoma County, Calif., during a season of widespread wildfires and subsequent flooding. Douglas County is the third Nevada jurisdiction to adopt the program, along with Washoe County and Carson City.

Members of the public can access Douglas County’s Perimeter public map by visiting the following link: perimetermap.com/douglas. No sign-up or download is required, and the map is responsive to desktop and mobile devices.

Neighborhood Watch groups and homeowner associations wishing to receive an in-person demonstration of Perimeter and how it works should email CommunityRelationsPIO@douglasnv.us to schedule a workshop.

The county encouraged residents to sign up for Reverse 911, which is an emergency alert system designed to send alert texts directly to a phone. The alerts will be sent for natural disasters, community emergencies, industrial accidents, wildfires, floods, severe weather, chemical spills, or when police actions occur.

Reverse 911 can send precise warnings and instructions no matter where you are, but only if your mobile number and physical address are registered in the system.

To register your cellphone for Reverse 911 visit https://douglascounty.onthealert.com.