Sign Up For Local Emergency Alerts
Five minutes to register, and you'll actually know when your area floods, freezes or needs people.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- Under 15 min
- People
- Solo / Duo
- Where
- Home, Anywhere
- Bring
- Nothing in particular
Why this matters
In floods, storms, water outages and severe weather, the people who help effectively are neighbours who knew early rather than responders who arrive later. Most councils and agencies run free alert systems that almost nobody signs up to. Knowing a few hours ahead is often the difference between helping someone move belongings upstairs and helping them clear up afterwards.
How to do it
Spend five minutes signing up to whatever early-warning systems cover your area.
Usually worth registering for: - Council emergency and severe weather alerts - Flood warnings from your national environment agency, if you're anywhere near a river, coast or known flood zone - Water company supply interruption alerts - Power outage notifications from your network operator - Local Red Cross, community resilience or emergency response networks - Your national emergency alert system, if it requires opt-in
Also worth doing at the same time: - Check whether your area has a community resilience or flood warden group. These are usually short of people and the commitment is often just being contactable. - Find out where your local emergency rest centre would be. Most people have no idea, and it's the first thing neighbours ask when something happens. - Note who nearby might need help in an emergency - elderly neighbours, people with limited mobility, someone who lives alone. Knowing this in advance is what makes a response fast.
Do this as a household or a street group and share what you find in a WhatsApp group. The value multiplies when several people are alerted rather than one, and it's a natural reason to set up a street group if you don't have one.