Bad weather text alert system on trial

The government could soon be sending out messages to mobile phone owners – within proximity of a transmitting antenna – which warn them of an imminent catastrophe, reports De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad. It is hoped that the system, which is currently on trial in 33 municipalities, will enable the government to forewarn the population more quickly and in a more targeted manner about serious incidents, bad weather, or imminent catastrophes. The country’s Crisis Centre is working on a system called Be-Alert, which can send a voicemail to a fixed telephone line or a text to a mobile phone.

Once trials are over, the system, says the Crisis Centre’s spokesperson Peter Mertens, could be expanded to cover the entire country by as early as 2015. Initially, only people who have registered on the list will be informed, but as the system develops it will be rolled out so that all mobile phone owners near a transmitting antenna can be identified and sent a text.