By the Deer Springs Fire Safe Council

Have you registered your cell phone to get emergency notifications in the event of an evacuation? If not, you should.

San Diego County operates a regional system that calls or texts residents and businesses when a disaster or emergency threatens. Authorities use this system, called Alert San Diego, to tell people to evacuate when a wildfire is bearing down.

The system uses the region’s 9-1-1 database, so all telephone landlines are registered in the system, whether or not those numbers are listed. It is also TTY/TDD capable.

However, cell phone and other numbers are not automatically registered in the reverse 9-1-1 system.

If you have a cellular phone you should register it with Alert San Diego, so you can get reverse 9-1-1 evacuation notices over your cell phone as well as your landline. The same is true of Voice over IP (VoIP) telephones, and emails.

To register cell phone numbers, VoIPs and emails, go to Alert San Diego at http://www.readysandiego.org/alertsandiego/#register and fill out the form. It is the best way to ensure that you will receive an evacuation order if the county issues one.

You can also register cell phone numbers of family members, so they receive the emergency notifications, too.