Registrations for Belgium's notification system BE-Alert have passed the one-million mark, De Zondag newspaper reported on Sunday.
Some 85% of Belgium’s communes are linked to the alarm system, which allows authorities use to notify citizens by sms, e-mail, or telephone when there is an emergency.
Since its launch in 2017, BE-Alert has been used over 600 times, including during the Coronavirus pandemic, Belga News Agency reports.
“After each Consultative Committee session, the National Crisis Centre has sent a message outlining its decisions to all registered e-mail addresses,” Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said.
“The Coronavirus pandemic and the mid-July [2021] floods showed the extent to which communication is important in emergency situations,” the minister added. “People need to be informed correctly, quickly and clearly.”
