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Be warned

Be warned

In case of an emergency situation in your neighbourhood, we would like to inform you in time. That is always the first step in crisis communication.

In case of emergency, your municipality, province or the Ministry of the Interior will try to give you the necessary recommendations as quickly and clearly as possible, so you’ll immediately know what to do in order to keep yourself and others safe, like closing windows and doors in case of fire.  
That’s why the first message must: 

  • Reach as many residents as possible
  • as quickly as possible,
  • with a uniform and clear message
  • from an official and clearly identified source 
  • via different channels that complement each other

Get warned via different channels

How you will be notified depends on the available channels in your municipality, province or at national level.

Depending on the emergency situation, the authorities competent for crisis management can use different channels: door-to-door, message via police loudspeakers, BE-Alert, social media ... 

You can be notified via:

Channel

Benefits

Cons

Door-to-door by the police
  • Efficient in extreme need
  • Personalized notice
  • Only possible in a restricted zone
  • Only possible if there is no immediate danger

Police loudspeaker
  • Efficient in case of evacuation
  • It takes time to notify the entire affected area
  • Impossible to alert the deaf and hard-of-hearing 

Traditional media (TV, radio)
  • Rapid alarm
  • Reaches a very large number of people quickly
  • No clear target group

Social media
  • Broad and fast distribution
  • Possible to reach specific target groups (young people)
  • Promotes dialogue between government and citizens
  • Little impact if social media channel is not known
  • Risk of losing the message in the amount of information
BE-Alert
  • Very targeted (specific street / neighbourhood / zone)
  • No intermediary channel: direct information from the government to the population
  • Efficient to quickly communicate the necessary recommendations
  • Less suitable in some situations - for example, impact on the whole country or an emergency situation in the middle of the night

Be ready

The best way to be ready is by being well informed about what to do with each type of alarm and which channels are available. You can:

  • Register on BE-Alert
  • Follow the official social media channels of your municipality or province, or the national Crisis Centre
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BE ALERT