22,000 El Paso Co. and Teller Co. residents signed up for Peak Alerts in 2022
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- We're checking into how many El Paso County and Teller County residents have signed up for emergency notifications since the new Zonehaven Disaster Planning Program took effect in August.
Notifications through Peak Alerts warn residents of emergencies like wildfires, shelter-in-place orders, and more.
The entity responsible for sending out Peak Alerts told KRDO Friday that in 2022, a record 22,000 people registered to receive the alerts.
That's three to five times more than normal, and the most since the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012.
Zoonehaven divides the city of Colorado Springs into more than 600 smaller zones. That way, when alerts are sent out, they'll be exact.
The new zoning system is meant to avoid telling too many people to evacuate at once - which happened in the Waldo Canyon evacuation when everyone in the Mountain Shadows area tried leaving at the same time.
