In the event of an emergency, there are plenty of sources of information, and now, city hall is one of them.
"I mean you guys do a great job through the media, but this goes around that, it goes directly to the people with a phone system," said Tulsa city councilor David Patrick, touting the benefits of a new city wide mass notification system.
"Homeland security, if it's a security thing or if you know an ice storm or whatever the masses need to know about then we can contact them immediately," he said.
With a hopeful launch date this spring, the system will be stocked with numbers from the phone book, with options for residents to be contacted additional ways as well.
"So they could get a text, they could get an email, they could get a phone call to their cell phone or their home phone," said Roger Jolliff of the Tulsa Emergency Management Agency.
Types of scenarios for use? Say there was a hazardous spill, or a man on the loose with a gun...
"This system would let us notify all the people in a certain area that you know there's a person with a gun that could be a threat, so please stay inside or avoid this area," he said.
As for severe weather, the system could provide updates on city services in situations like another ice storm, or work in conjunction with local media in the event of a tornado watch.
"Our watch information may be, there's a tornado watch, please turn to local media at this time and access them," he said.
