Clearwater crews installing emergency alert system across city

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The beautiful beaches in the Tampa Bay Area draw people from across the country and the world.

Clearwater officials are hoping a new emergency alert system at its beaches and parks will keep visitors and residents safer.

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"They [visitors] don't necessarily know our weather and how quickly it can change," Derek Smith, Clearwater’s Emergency Management Specialist, said. "So, that's going to help quite a bit for those individuals," he said.

Crews are installing the software at 25 sites across the city. It will warn people about severe weather and other hazards, like major road closures.

"These are going to be kind of like a curated, intelligible voice that you'll be able to understand," Smith said. "No, you know, alarms. Just a voice to let you know that there's a risk out there and that you should seek shelter," he said.

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The alert system has two parts, automated and staff-programmed.

"There's the automated component, which is going to be kind of fed through two lightning detection rods, essentially antennas, that we’ll have throughout the city. They'll detect the lightning and then send it on through the software program and then send it to the speakers," Smith said.

Smith said the system is customizable, and staff can also send messages to people who sign up for text alerts. He said the system will streamline potentially lifesaving information.

"As soon as we're able to detect something, we could put it out probably less than minutes later. And so, that's a lot faster. If you think about the beach being, you know, two miles long with seven guard stations, it takes quite a bit of time to get the guards out there to make this announcement," Smith said.

"They may be using their voices or whistles or things like that, where these speakers are able to project a lot further," he said.

Clearwater is partnering with HQE Systems to install the software. The project is about $1.3 million spread throughout the eight-year contract with the company.

Smith said they’ll have the system up and running by March, right around spring break.