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Emergency Public Alert System

While the county already has emergency alert capabilities, County Executive Ball wants the businesses, residents, and visitors of Ellicott City to have as much warning and direction as possible during severe weather events. As such, the county executive directed his Office of Emergency Management to develop a comprehensive plan to bolster the county’s Emergency Public Alert System, with new technology and elements to enhance capabilities during extreme weather situations. 

As part of EC Safe and Sound, an outdoor tone-based alert system was implemented to complement existing alert and warning tools.  There are four semi-permanent towers located within the Downtown Ellicott City area. These semi-permanent towers are fixed in the ground with concrete bases. Each tower has a pole extending approximately 40-60 feet above with a speaker array on top. The units  produce a very loud tone (technically rated at 120 decibels within a 100 ft radius) warning individuals in outdoor spaces. The semi-permanent units are currently in place and operational. 

 

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Public Meetings

On February 25, 2019, County Executive Ball, in coordination with the Office of Emergency Management, hosted a public meetings to provide additional information about the temporary speaker arrays and to solicit feedback regarding a permanent speaker system. The presentation from that meeting can be found here.

Frequently Asked Questions

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