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Raleigh staff outline upgrades to emergency alerts, training and incident communications
Summary
City communications staff told the City Council they have expanded training, templates and county coordination to speed emergency messaging, highlighted the Ready Wake/Everbridge system and clarified that Wake County controls wireless emergency alerts.
Raleigh communications staff briefed the City Council in a work session on emergency public information improvements, including expanded training, draft message templates and closer coordination with Wake County to speed geographically targeted alerts.
Rand Northam, communications department assistant director for public affairs, told the council: “Get the right message to the right people at the right time so they can make the right decisions to save lives.” He and Communications Director Robin Diekel described changes the city has made since Northam joined staff to centralize public information officer (PIO) responsibilities and prepare for larger incidents.
The presentation said the city follows the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for incident operations and that PIOs are treated as first responders who must be ready nights, weekends and holidays. The communications team has developed draft messages and templates intended to speed messaging to residents and lead with actions people should take to remain safe.
Northam and Diekel said the city signed a contract in 2024 with Julie Parker Communications (JPC) to provide training. Julie Parker and a JPC colleague described tabletop exercises and simulated incidents used to build “muscle memory.” Julie Parker told the council: “When the crisis happens and all eyes are on you, that is your time to shine or to sink.” The city has run three communications-specific trainings in the past year and plans at least two more this year.
City staff emphasized the Ready Wake system (Everbridge) hosted by Wake County as a core tool. Diekel explained there are two message types: subscription-based Ready Wake messages residents can opt into, and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which are location-based messages sent to all cell phones in a defined area. She said Wake County emergency management is the only local agency authorized to send WEA and that the city coordinates with county on WEA requests.
The presenters referenced a recent multi-hour search in which geo-fenced messages were used to reach people inside the search area and said an “all clear” WEA that later went countywide caused confusion. Diekel said Wake County is investigating why that all-clear message was sent beyond the original geofence.
Council members asked how residents know what topic categories they will get if they subscribe and whether the city will send alerts for active searches for persons of interest. Councilor Jones asked for a clearer list of topics after noting residents received only a closeout message in one incident. Diekel replied that Ready Wake subscription topics are available at readywake.com and reiterated that WEAs are for imminent public-safety threats and are determined by the county; she said the Raleigh Police Department has sent geo-located WEAs in active searches.
Councilor Patton and others asked about call centers and services for vulnerable populations during extremes of heat and cold. Diekel said the city can activate an incident call center during specific incidents, will publish that number while the center is open, and that the number is not a continuously staffed line. Diekel and Robin Diekel (Communications Director) said the city coordinates with housing, public safety and Wake County partner services — including white-flag shelters — to publicize available cooling or warming resources.
On social media strategy, Diekel and Brett (the city’s social media manager) said Raleigh maintains accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor, Threads and BlueSky, and that the city does not post on TikTok because of state-level security guidance. Diekel reported the city has about 400,000 total followers across platforms and said roughly 1,000 people typically see or engage with posts, and promised to follow up with more detailed platform metrics.
Northam closed by saying the communications team will continue training, coordinate closely with the Office of Emergency Management and Wake County, and work with the Office of Special Events on large permitted gatherings such as Dreamville. Councilors thanked staff and asked that the city follow up with county data on frequency of WEAs and average annual alert volumes.
The work session contained no formal votes or adopted motions.
