Thousands of Genevans Followed July 1 Storm on Twitter

The city of Geneva is asking residents to sign up to its Twitter account to find breaking news when storms rip through the city.

" and resulting loss of power (several times) was due to a combination of city power lines being pulled down by trees or blown down by wind during and shortly after the major storm went through our community," the city says in its newsletter. "However, many people may not realize that, although the city distributes power to our community, we do not produce it. We purchase it from Exelon (parent company of Commonwealth Edison). And if you had the ability to watch or hear the news on Sunday or Monday, you probably saw that many of our neighboring communities, directly supplied by ComEd, lost power for hours or even days."

Much of the aftermath of the storm that began on Sunday afternoon was due to the loss of a ComEd feeder line to the city's power distribution lines, then the loss of power from ComEd to three city substations and finally issues with a faulty ComEd gear switch.

For emergency or urgent situations like this, the city encourages residents, businesses, and visitors to sign up for the city's email and text messaging alerts. Although some people may not have access to email during such an event, more than 1,400 people that follow "CityofGeneva" on Twitter did receive text messages on their phones, keeping them informed. The city also has more than 2,500 people receiving weekly GenevaMail bulletins and GenevaMail alerts, as well.

Anyone can register to sign up for the city's quarterly electronic newsletter, the weekly GenevaMail (email) bulletin, GenevaMail alerts (used in this case of the storm), and the city's Twitter account. (Text messaging also are used in case of the storm.) Residents can choose to receive texts involving city news or only police news or both.

The city sends out alerts for weather, fire and police or other public safety issues, as well as public works projects, public meeting, and upcoming event information.

It's another tool for keeping people informed with what's happening in and around the city. The city does not sell or give away your contact information.

It's a low-cost or no-cost tool for up-to-the-minute information, and the city encourages everyone to sign up for all or some of the communications that the city offers at http://www.geneva.il.us.

SOURCE: City of Geneva newsletter

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