At Tuesday’s meeting in Hillsborough, the Orange County Board of Commissioners discussed ways the county can improve its communication during emergencies.

James Groves, the Orange County director of emergency services, cited emerging Ebola cases as one reason Orange County should be more prepared for emergency communications.

“We just implemented a new system called Everbridge,” said Groves. “We just kicked it off last Friday, but we just went live today.”

In his presentation to the board, Groves said this new system enables the county to send information to all phones within a specified radius. “We can actually reach every phone number and every unlisted phone number and actually deliver an emergency message,” said Groves.

Board chair Barry Jacobs said the county did not communicate effectively during the ice storm in March. “We didn’t have good coordination with the utilities,” said Jacobs. “Piedmont Electric didn’t know we had shelters open.”

Jacobs hopes next time the county would do a better job of sharing information “because a lot of the public was, no pun intended, totally in the dark.”

Groves said if the electricity goes out and people cannot use phones or computers, the county will use a PA system and flyers to get information to the public.

Groves distributed cards to each of the commissioners which, when used, will give their phones a higher priority when dialing a number with a high call volume. He said commissioners may need the cards to serve as points of contact in certain emergency situations.

Some commissioners said teleconferencing would be the most cost-effective and practical way to hold a meeting if they can’t be in the same physical space.

The board also discussed the progress of two community centers and plans to request a larger allocation of water from Jordan Lake.

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