Government

Emergency Website Gets Major Upgrade, Goes Mobile

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Get critical emergency information on your computer, mobile phone or tablet using the County’s new website at SDCountyEmergency.com, featuring technology developed in partnership with Microsoft.

“The new state-of-the-art site allows us to get important updates to residents quickly on their computers and on their mobile devices. And, it was developed at no cost to the taxpayers,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman, Bill Horn.

The site is the result of collaboration between the County and Microsoft to find a way to increase capacity on the site, while improving the features and functions. Microsoft offered to develop it for free, giving the company a product it can show to other jurisdictions.
The site uses cloud technology, enabling it to expand the number of users it can handle as web traffic increases.

“During the 2007 wildfires, national news outlets linked to our emergency site, which resulted in a flood of visitors and required us to purchase enough server capacity to handle increased traffic. The new site can be adjusted as needed, handling a high volume of visits without paying for storage space during non-emergency times,” said Holly Crawford, Director of the Office of Emergency Services.

Visitors can also get information about preparedness and recovery on the site, using the tabs across the top of the page, as well as up-to-date maps, a searchable list of shelter locations and social media messages.