The ground begins to ebb and flow as if the earth has suddenly liquefied; the report of exploding transformers sound like shotgun fire – their triggers uniformly pulled, as power lines collapse; pipes snap like willow wands … confusion blankets the city … 

We have all heard it again and again — a massive natural disaster in Utah will inevitably happen. It is not a matter of if but when.

When Utah’s force majeure rears its ugly head, a thousand-and-one problematic issues as sharp as teeth from a dream could be revealed: water shut-offs, blackouts, fires, looting, and a laundry list of more. 

The idea of suddenly not having contact with the police, firefighters and city leaders in times of crisis is disconcerting, surely, but the city of Herriman has taken steps so its residents don’t have to harbor this worry.

It is called ALERTEXT, an app that is designed to alert residents whenever there is an emergency or an evacuation.

“The program would allow the City to broadcast critical messages to our community during an incident without tying up phone lines,” Mayor Freeman said.

So what’s the catch? Nothing, really.

Residents need to opt in to receive alerts from city officials.

“This can be emergency alerts, Council Meeting alerts, recreation program alerts and construction alerts. Residents will only receive alerts for what they have signed up for. It is a great way to communicate quickly with our residents while giving them the information they have requested to receive,” Freeman said. 

How much does it cost? Standard text messaging rates; those who wish to be part of this 21st technology should first check with their phone provider to verify.

The way it works is simply text the word “Alerts” to 47092. You will then receive a response message letting you know you will receive text alerts given by the city, or you can fill out the sign-up form on www.herriman.org. 

It’s that easy. To stay in touch with residents is an important role and duty of any city, and Herriman City is doing just that.

“The program is new and will be officially rolled out to our public during our Fort Herriman Days celebration on June 19th and 20th.  With our past experience dealing with fires and flooding in our City, this program is sure to be beneficial should these situations arise in the future. We have a community that is very involved. Several of them participate in our emergency readiness programs. This is one more way to notify them of what is taking place in the City,” the Mayor said.