France’s Civil Defence Agency – ‘Sécurité Civile’ – has an alert system that sends a message to people’s smartphones to signal an emergency.
When the authorities want to alert residents of a danger, for example, extreme weather, fires, a terrorist incident, high pollution levels or a flood, they can send a message to all the different mobile phone operators. The operators then transmit the message out over their network systems, where it is picked up by people’s phones in the affected areas.
This was used for the first time this summer when five departments were issued with a tier-four warning for storms. People in these departments received phone messages warning of very strong and violent winds, storms and hail.
They were advised to:
- Stay inside and avoid outside activities
- Keep away from trees and running water
- Take refuge in a secure and protected place
- Close doors, windows and shutters and take down any objects that could fly away.
They were then told to follow official advice and stay in place until the authorities said the alert was over.
This system, in place since June 2022, means local authorities can warn anyone with a smartphone within a certain area of damage and the steps they should take to keep themselves safe.
You do not need to install an app or sign up to get notifications, you merely need to have your phone turned on and not on aeroplane mode. It does not matter if you have a foreign SIM card, or whether your phone runs on the Android or Apple operating systems.
If your phone is on silent, it will make a sound to draw your attention to the message.