Residents urged to sign up for new SMC alert system

Published on December 19, 2022

Each city in San Mateo County, including Menlo Park, partners with the County's Department of Emergency Management (DEM) to use the San Mateo County Alert System (SMC Alert) for disaster and emergency notifications. 

Thanks to an improved emergency alert and warning system, those who live and work in San Mateo County can now get messages via text, email and voice that include maps, images and multiple languages. The new alert system has an improved identification component to show recipients exactly which agency sent the message.

The new features of SMC Alert aim to empower residents by providing key information to help keep them safe and navigate away from incidents like major traffic delays and detours, wildfires, floods and mountain lions. 

The added capabilities are due to a new vendor, RAVE, which replaces former provider Everbridge. Existing recipients of SMC Alert are encouraged to create a new account to enable the new features. Those who don't upgrade will continue receiving alerts as before, but won't be able to take advantage of the added features. 

The City encourages all residents and employees working in our county to sign up to receive alerts from this countywide system.

Learn more about the emergency preparedness resources on the city website, including emergency alerts.