City of Corbin instituting alert program

Corbin city officials are beginning a new program whereby residents may receive alerts about events affecting the community.

Under the new REACH Alert program, residents may sign up to receive text, voice calls, email and/or messaging with information.

“From notices of water disruption/boil water advisories, hazmat situations, road closures/construction, inclement weather, flooding, fires, AMBER Alerts, etc., we can keep you in the loop within seconds,” city officials stated in the announcement about the new program.

Corbin City Manager Marlon Sams said the year-to-year contract for the system will cost the city $3,750 the first year and $5,000 per year afterwards.

“I had seen them at a Kentucky League of Cities conference a few years back,” Sams said the Reach Alert system. I did some research and theirs was the least expensive out of all of them.”

Sams said this was something he had been thinking about bringing to the city for several years. The destruction in Gatlinburg, Tennessee from the wildfires convinced him it is something Corbin needs.

“There were stories of first-responders in Gatlinburg going door to door to evacuate people,” Sams said.

“Our proximity to I-75 makes you think about what could happen and how would we alert the residents and businesses if we needed to do so,” Sams said.

Sams said in addition to himself, Interim Police Chief Rusty Hedrick, Fire Chief Barry McDonald, Corbin dispatchers, Corbin Public Works Director Gary Kelly and Corbin Downtown Director Andy Salmons will all have access to post to the system.

Residents and businesses may begin signing up to receive the alerts on Friday. There is no deadline to sign up and changes may be made to your account at any time.

Subscribers may choose up to three ways to receive messages and up to four devices by entering a total of four phone numbers and/or email addresses.

Sams said there is no limit to the number of subscribers and individuals outside the city limits may register.

To register, go to www.reachalert.com and click on “my account. Then select “create account” to establish your initial account

Use the network name: Corbin, select either resident or business and enter the street number on the first line and the street name on the second line.

If you do not have access to a computer or experience any difficulty registering, you may contact REACH Alert at (877) 307-9313 for assistance.