Montgomery County’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) has launched a new translation service for emergency notifications sent through the County’s Alert Montgomery system.
The new web-based service allows residents receiving an OEMHS emergency alert by text or email to click a link and view the alert translated into one of 11 languages. The available options include the County’s target languages of Amharic, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.
More than 266,000 people are currently subscribed to Alert Montgomery, which the County says is the largest emergency alert system in Maryland. OEMHS uses the system for notifications including extreme weather watches and warnings, missing person alerts, shelter-in-place orders and other situations that could pose an immediate threat to people or property.
“Montgomery County is home to people who speak many different languages, and during an emergency everyone needs to be able to quickly understand what is happening and what they should do to stay safe,” County Executive Marc Elrich said. “Language should never prevent someone from receiving potentially lifesaving information.”
County translators will help improve the translation tool over time, with an initial focus on the County’s target languages. OEMHS will also promote the service during National Preparedness Month in September through social media, outreach events and presentations in communities with limited English proficiency.
The translation service currently applies only to emergency notifications generated by OEMHS, such as severe weather and shelter-in-place alerts. Traffic notifications, including crashes and road closures, are not currently included.
