Police calling for residents to save Emergency Alert number in their phones

Police are calling on residents to save this vital number in their phones in the hope that it will help separate emergency alerts from the deluge of scam text messages that are the scourge of every phone user.

Storm season is under way and authorities are concerned the community may ignore vital emergency alerts messages, thinking instead that they are scams.

Anyone who uses a mobile phone these days would have received scam texts phishing for personal details, so as a community we are naturally sceptical of messages sent from unfamiliar numbers.

While scam messages should be disregarded, police are concerned that vital emergency alerts are also being ignored.

In an effort to save lives and property, authorities are asking residents to save the national Emergency Alert phone number to cut through the confusion.

Darling Downs Superintendent Doug McDonald said messages from [phone] were not a scam, instead they are official phone warnings as part of a national geo-targeting emergency alert system.

“It is a tool that we use to keep the community informed,” he said.

“It operates by sending voicemails to landlines and text messages to mobile phones.

“We assess the risk for a particular area and we will target these alerts to those areas that are under threat, to keep the community informed so we can keep them safe.

“It’s really important for people to be alert to that message, and to take the appropriate action. It is not a scam.”

The warning comes as Queensland prepares for heightened storm activity over the coming weeks.

The Darling Downs is forecast to weather hot, humid days, with rain coming at the weekend and into next week.

Already North Queensland has been hit with heavy falls and any rain in our region will fall on ground that is already sodden.

“With the high soil moisture at the moment, any additional rain that we receive at this time is likely to run very quickly into creeks, over roads and potentially impact properties and isolate people, hence why the importance of the messaging at the moment,” Superintendent McDonald said.

“What we see is these very rapid water levels increasing and putting people at risk.”

Originally published as Police calling for residents to save Emergency Alert number in their phones