CT Alert: How to Stay Informed During Hurricanes, Nor'easters and Emergencies

Hurricane Sandy bowled through Connecticut on the anniversary of the October snowstorm and a week later a Nor'easter dropped snow in the Farmington Valley and West Hartford.

During Sandy, many towns sent emergency alerts to their residents though CT alert. Instead of waiting until the next storm and possible power or Internet outages to sign up, here's how you can do so right now to be prepared and stay informed.

Among the options are the town of Canton's local e-mail alerts as well as www.CTAlert.gov, which directs emergency messages to multiple devices, set and prioritized by the user. Residents, for example, can have the messages sent to a mobile number, land line, e-mail and fax. Users can also opt to receive alerts from multiple areas. 

With the town alert system, residents can sign up for emergency notifications as well as others, such as town meetings and library updates. In addition, the town has a twitter page at https://twitter.com/CantonCTInfo.

You can also sign up to receive notifications on cell phones, pagers and via email and prioritize where you want to receive the messages first.