Even years after the introduction of the online system in Santa Barbara County, registrations for emergency alerts remain low

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – There is a direct connection between Santa Barbara emergency managers and the community, but the number of people signed up is very small.

Emergency Management Agency Director Kelly Hubbard said only about 15 percent of the population had registered. She said online registration was easy, quick and allowed people to enter more than one number.

Messages sent can take various forms, including direct text messages and in both English and Spanish.

Hubbard said some residents are concerned about how their information will be used or reused. She said it will only be used for emergency notifications. “Information is not allowed to be used for any other purpose, it is not allowed to be used for political campaigning, it is not allowed to be — we are not allowed to give it to any other government agencies. If community members are concerned that the information will be given to the Department of Homeland Security, or anything like that, then we are not allowed to do that.”

Hubbard also said that South County has more registered residents than any other area of ​​Santa Barbara County and has been hit by some of the biggest disasters in recent years, including major fires and floods.

To register online, visit ReadySBC.org.