Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Communications

Sign up with Alert Long Beach to receive Emergency Notifications to your mobile phone and/or email address.

In the event of an emergency, severe weather, or any incident that impacts city operations, a text message and/or voice message will be sent to the cell number and/or email address that you specify.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• WHAT IS ALERT LONG BEACH?

  Alert Long Beach is an emergency notification system used by the City of Long Beach to issue emergency alerts to residents and businesses. The system has the capacity to send thousands of messages within minutes via phone, e-mail and text. Only authorized officials are allowed access to the system.

• HOW CAN I SIGN-UP TO RECEIVE ALERT NOTIFICATIONS?

  You may sign-up online by going to the City of Long Beach’s Alert Long Beach site.

• WHAT TYPES OF MESSAGES WILL BE SENT USING THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM?

  The primary use of the system will be to disseminate messages pertaining to the health, safety or welfare of the community that is being affected by a perceived, emerging, or imminent emergency event. The City may also choose to use the service to disseminate non-emergency messages deemed of interest to residents.

• HOW DOES THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM WORK?

  Authorized officials record a voice, e-mail or text message that is then delivered quickly to individuals who register to receive alert notifications. 

• WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A LANDLINE, CAN THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM CALL MY CELL PHONE?

  Yes, residents who register their cell phone numbers in the Alert Long Beach system will receive messages on their cell phone. Since there are many instances when residents may not be at home to receive an emergency message phone call, public safety officials recommend that all residents with a cell phone add their number to the Alert Long Beach database.

• DOES THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM REPLACE OTHER EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS?

  This system supplements, but does not replace other communication methods used by emergency responders. During an emergency, City 9-1-1 emergency lines will still be available. Television, radio and city web sites will continue to broadcast important announcements as well.

• IF I HAVE PROVIDED MORE THAN ONE PHONE NUMBER, WHAT NUMBER WILL BE CALLED?

  You are able to set preferences in your account based off of each number provided. If an emergency situation arises that requires a notification to be sent to multiple phone numbers, we will activate the system to place a simultaneous call to all of your numbers. For matters with less urgency, you may be notified at only one phone or by e-mail or text depending on your account preferences. 

• WILL THE ALERT LONG BEACH CALL NUMBERS OUTSIDE OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY’S AREA CODES?

  Yes. The area code does not impact whether or not a call is made.

• WILL THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM WORK IF I HAVE A CALL SCREENING SYSTEM ON MY PHONE?

  There are several varieties of call screening devices which use differing protocols for screening. In general, the system has been found to work with these devices.

• HOW DOES THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM RESPOND TO BUSY SIGNALS OR NO-ANSWER SITUATIONS?

  For busy signals, call waiting signals or when there is not an answer, the call will be repeated 3 times in an attempt to reach you. If the phone is answered by a message recorder, the message will be left on the answering device. If after 3 attempts the call does not successfully go through, the system will stop attempting to call.

• IF I’M LISTENING TO A MESSAGE LIVE, IS THERE A WAY TO REPEAT IT?

  Yes, at the end of the message, simply press the star (*) key on your telephone to have it repeated in its entirety.

• HOW DO I CHANGE OR DELETE THE INFORMATION I REGISTERED?

  To change or delete the information you registered into the Alert Long Beach system, log into the system and select the “Edit or Delete” option. Your login ID is unique and created when you first sign up. 

• IS MY CONTACT INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM DATABASE?

  Alert Long Beach contains residential and commercial landline phone numbers for most of Long Beach’s geographic population that is published in the white and yellow pages. In accordance with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), landline numbers are acquired from commercial carriers’ 9-1-1 telephone database. The use of the 9-1-1 database is regulated by the CPUC code sections 2872 and 2891.1. The code states that information contained in the 9-1-1 database is confidential, proprietary and shall not be disclosed or used except by authorized personnel for the purpose of emergency notifications.
  
  It is important and recommended that community members provide additional phone numbers, e-mail addresses and a text number by registering through the Alert Long Beach web portal. 
  

• WHAT PRECAUTIONS ARE TAKEN TO PROTECT PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION STORED IN THE ALERT LONG BEACH SYSTEM?

  Alert Long Beach is a service powered by Crisis24. The City of Long Beach and Crisis24 take citizen security and privacy concerns seriously. Policy and contract agreements have been put into practice that prohibit Alert Long Beach contact information from being shared, sold, traded, leased or loaned to outside parties. Staff access to citizen contact information is limited and approved at many layers. Citizen provided contact information transmitted through the web portal is sent over a secure connection.
  

• WHO DO I CONTACT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

  If you have additional Alert Long Beach questions, please contact the City’s Department of Disaster Preparedness at (562) 570-9250.