Grand Canyon River Alerts: An Emergency Alert System Designed for Satellite Texting Devices
NPS/J. Baird
Get real-time alerts for Grand Canyon river emergencies
The Grand Canyon River Alert system, a collaborative effort between the USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC), Coconino County Emergency Management (CCEM), the National Weather Service (NWS), and the National Park Service (NPS), has been launched to significantly enhance safety measures for boaters and hikers navigating the Grand Canyon. This system sends critical messages on hazards like extreme weather and flash floods directly to your Garmin, SPOT, or other satellite messaging device.
The system is designed to provide timely alerts on a range of critical incidents including boating hazards, missing persons, dam-related events, extreme weather conditions, and flash floods. These alerts are crucial for ensuring the safety of all individuals within the Grand Canyon area.
Subscription Details and Support
To subscribe to the Grand Canyon River Alerts, users can text GCRIVERALERTS to 928-707-7842 from their personal mobile phones or satellite texting devices. It is essential to receive a confirmation message to ensure successful subscription before embarking on any trip. Alternatively, users can sign up for email versions of alerts at https://smart911.com.
Technical Considerations
It's important to note that satellite texting devices, such as those from Garmin and SPOT, have limitations on the number of custom messages they can receive. All messages from the Grand Canyon River Alert system, including signup and confirmation messages, count towards this limit. Subscribers will be automatically removed from the list at the end of the commercial boating season (November of each year) to prevent receiving unwanted messages.
Users can opt out at any time by texting "LEAVE GCRIVERALERTS" or "STOP."
Get Involved
For those interested in providing feedback or reporting issues related to the alert system, please contact Joseph Thomas (jthomas@usgs.gov) or Thomas Gushue (tgushue@usgs.gov). Additionally, individuals can participate in beta testing for the flash flood reporting application by contacting Erica Byerley (ebyerley@usgs.gov).
