The improved and more user-friendly website for the Municipal District of Bighorn will serve as a more sound reporting system in the case of local emergencies.
Administration unveiled the website – www.mdbighorn.ca – to council on July 14 and, along with the redesign and added Bighorn news, the home page is capable of converting into an emergency operations page during a crisis.
“If there was a situation like the flood event, we could have people on standby and we could let people know if evacuations are taking place, where they can go, what they need to bring, who they can contact, and all sorts of information they would need for that,” said Kendra Tippe, MD Emergency Public Information Officer.
Tippe added emergency information posted on the website will be front and centre with up-to-date reports as needed.
A major reason for the website update was to establish a stronger social media presence, says Tippe.
“We do have the (MD) Twitter feed on the front page, so we’re just trying to incorporate the social media more for people to see, so they don’t have to be a Twitter user to see what the MD is tweeting,” Tippe said.
MD Reeve Dene Cooper said the MD has to move forward to be better able to adapt to the needs of ratepayers.
For MD residents who do not regularly use the Internet as a form of obtaining information, the MD offers a Synrevoice Emergency Notification (SEN). It sends an alert to residents during a crisis.
The MD encourages every resident to sign up for the notification by going to the MD website and clicking the “forms” section on the front page. The link directs to a page where the SEN form can be found.
“We can implement every resident who has subscribed to it. They can get notification by home phone, cellphone, text and email,” said Tippe.
Councillor Paul Clark said he was satisfied with the SEN option.
“A person like myself, who is going to avoid Twitter and Facebook, is still going to have the information through other sources, so it isn’t inclusive to the social media that’s up there now,” said Clark.
