(Copied from the June 5, 2006 edition of the Clearwater Times, of the
St Pete Times)

Imagine a scenario where a Cat-4 hurricane has pounded Pinellas
County. Power and phone lines have been down for days. Cell phones
circuits are jammed. Rumors are that ice, water and food are
available. But where?
Your cell phones beeps and a text message appears, letting you
know when and where supplies will arrive.
Technology rocks.
These emergency notifications are FREE and easy to get. Just
call (this toll free number).

Pinellas County Community Notification Service

Toll free @ 1-888-689-8905, using the device you want to register.
The system will capture the number and ask you to input your Zip
Code. Then it will confirm registration. And that is it.

These digital emergency notifications will also work on pagers,
Blackberry wireless devices and personal digital assistants- anything
that can receive a text message. Owners of older cell phones may want
to check if their phones are text message compatible.
(Gary) Vickers (the county's emergency management director) said
possible uses for the Community Notification System include weather
events, hazardous materials spills, or terror threats or attacks...

What makes this system so appealing to emergency planning
officials is that text messages travel on a low-band width spectrum,
making them easier to go through than voice messages when systems are
down or circuits overloaded...
And the system is nationwide, Vickers said. "So if you've gone
to North Carolina, you'll get a text message letting you know when re-
entry is allowed in your area," he said...

* I hope this helps everyone, I have been signed up since this
article and it works great. Please forward this to anyone you think
might be helped.