Niagara County Emergency Services announces new smartphone app

Residents encouraged to fill out flood damage reports from July 20 storm

Niagara County Emergency Service Director Jonathan Schultz announced the release of a new smartphone application called Prepare Niagara. This app will serve as a new way for the agency to connect with Niagara County residents and visitors, providing information quickly and efficiently to anyone with a smartphone.

“As this week’s flooding has shown, it is imperative for us to be able to reach out to the community quickly in the event of any type of emergency situation,” Schultz said. “The Prepare Niagara app allows us to do that plus provides several other features that can aid in emergency planning and post-event response.”

One such area is the ability of residents to submit damage reports that are key to helping catalog the negative impacts of an event.

“For that very reason, we are releasing the app about a week earlier than we had planned so people can submit damage reports from the July 20 storms,” Schultz said. “It’s a very fast process and is key to helping us meet requirements of a state of emergency declaration.”

The Niagara County Emergency Services smartphone app was developed by myEMAapp.com, a division of OCV LLC. A press release stated, “The app offers quick access to items of public interest and is easy to use. In just a few clicks, users can:

√ “Submit damage reports;

√ “View evacuation procedures;

√ “Receive push notifications;

√ “Connect to the organization’s social media platforms;

√ “View shelter locations;

√ “Read recent news and press releases;

√ “Browse emergency plans and checklists.

myEMAapp.com specializes in smartphone app development for emergency management agencies and public safety organizations across the country. Developing more than 500 apps, OCV designs and creates custom apps for state, county and local government agencies.

“Over 80% of people in the United States own and use smartphones as their primary means of communication,” OCV Vice President Kevin Cummings said. “Mobile apps offer agencies a better way to alert, inform and prepare the public. Apps allow public safety agencies the ability to reach and serve their citizens where they are: their smartphones.”

The Niagara County Emergency Services app is available for download for free in the App Store and Google Play by searching “Niagara County Emergency, NY,” clicking on the QR code or going to https://apps.myocv.com/share/a58414094.