FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fort Myers' emergency management team soft launched a new emergency management app designed to be a real-time communication tool between the community and city officials during natural disasters.
The app is intended to provide critical information about evacuation zones, flood zones, and emergency shelter locations, while also allowing users to create personalized emergency plans.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price break down the app:
"My concern primarily is preparation, ahead of time, so people don't get caught off guard," said Craig Edwards, who has lived in Fort Myers since 2015.
Edwards says he learned valuable lessons going through Hurricanes Irma and Ian. During Hurricane Ian, his household lost power, but maintained internet.
"One of the things we learned from that is, if you don't lose power, but you lose Wi-Fi, you can set up a portable TV with an antenna and still listen to local news stations," Edwards said.
Edwards attended a Ward 2 meeting where he learned about the city's new emergency app. He emphasized the importance of accurate information and community support before, during, and after storms.
"My big concern then is after that is the social media that's available now for misinformation," he said.
When Edwards first moved to Fort Myers, he wasn't familiar with evacuation zones and felt uncertain about whether to evacuate during storms. He believes the new app helps solve this problem by showing users their specific zone and alerts will pop up if their zone is called to evacuate.
"The notification history at the top bar there, that'll be where our push notifications come through," said Jennifer Schmidt, Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Fort Myers
She says any alerts users might miss will be archived in the notification section for later reference.
The app also features a "Contact Us" option that enables users to communicate directly with emergency management officials.
"There's a Contact Us feature here, and this talks a little bit about emergency management itself and where we're located. And you can click on any of these names here, and you can actually contact us directly," Schmidt said.
Schmidt recommends that people use the app to prepare now, before hurricane season intensifies.
"The be ready feature here actually has a direct link that you can create a plan," she said.
Edwards, who is 75, noted that some of the PDFs and maps in the app can be difficult to read on smaller devices and suggested using tablets for better visibility.
"I think having the app on your iPad allows you to expand see the text message clear evacuation maps are on there," Edwards said. "I think as we get into the closer to hurricane season, they're going to do a better job of putting information on there regarding the current situation."
The app is available for download now on Google Play and the App Store, and Edwards "highly recommends everyone to download it."
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