New Emergency Alert System for Cell Phone Users in Champaign County

You can get information about emergencies in Champaign County by email or text message through a new service being launched this week by local public service agencies

County residents can sign up for the new service at champcoprepares.com. It's similar to the emergency system the University of Illinois set up in the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

Urbana Fire Department Division Chief Tony Foster says it's easy to sign up. "It asks you general questions like your name and address, your email address, and then what phone number you would like that text or email sent to," said Foster. "It then will allow you to select weather warnings, if you want information from the University of Illinois sent to you, or something else like that. It will prompt and send that information to your wireless device."

Foster says if you work far from home, you can get information for both areas by writing in the zip codes for both places.

champcoprepares.com is getting its official unveiling this week. Foster says other counties in Illinois are also launching the service.