Myrtle Beach pursues grant for new emergency mass communication system

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Myrtle Beach city leaders are working on a new way to alert you to not only major emergencies but also to minor dilemmas, like boil water advisories.

The city council voted in favor of applying for a grant for a new emergency communication system.

The main function would be to notify residents of severe weather, plus anything from active shooters to power outages to even special events could go out as a text to folks living in the city.

The city has had mass-messaging systems in the past, but what is different about this one is that the information is customizable, so they’d be able to target certain parts of the city where people would be the most affected.

For example, we’ve had a lot of boil water notices lately, specifically on Ocean Boulevard.

With this new service, the city would be able to send a text to people living just in that area to let them know what’s going on.

That could also go for residential road closures or special events impacting traffic in a certain area - whatever people sign up for that they’d like to receive.

This isn’t a done deal just yet, the city is pursuing a grant to pay for it.

They’ll likely find out whether or not they get it in the next few weeks, so we should have more information on all the new system will be able to do soon.

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