App to send disaster alerts

New Zealand's Red Cross East Coast community services manager Dennis Morgan and Teresa Simcox, from Hawke's Bay Civil Defence and Emergency Management, check out the Red Cross hazard app on their phones.

Hawke's Bay residents can now receive official disaster alerts and lifesaving information on their smartphones, as Civil Defence Hawke's Bay begins alerting through the Red Cross Hazard App.

Hazard App, developed by New Zealand Red Cross, is a free app that alerts users to hazards like wild weather and flooding, and tsunami. It also includes information about how to prepare for emergencies, what to do after a disaster has occurred and an "I am safe" messaging function.

Civil Defence Hawke's Bay officially began alerting through the Red Cross Hazard App yesterday.

Civil Defence Hawke's Bay group manager Ian Macdonald said the app would help people in the region be better prepared. "When a disaster happens, it's important people get the information they need to make it through safely. The Red Cross Hazard App is one of the many ways we have to alert people to emergencies and help them keep safe."

Developed by the International Red Cross' Global Disaster Preparedness Centre, the app has been used in several countries and during several recent disasters.

New Zealand Red Cross brought the app to New Zealand, adapting the content to reflect New Zealand-specific hazards and emergency information. The Red Cross Hazard App guides users through preparing an emergency response kit and plan, what to do during an emergency, and offers step-by-step information to help people recover after an emergency.

This preloaded content means people have instant access to all information even without cellphone reception or an internet connection.

It can be downloaded for free from the Google Play store for Android devices or from the Apple store for iOS devices.

- For more information go to Redcross.org.nz and search for "hazard app".