January 21, 2020 10:25 a.m.
Roseburg residents are encouraged to sign up for the Citizen Emergency Notification Service through the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Staff from Roseburg Police said that CENS is used to notify the public of important information during an emergency. The CENS system can relay critical information about natural disasters or other emergencies that require the attention of citizens.
Currently all landline phone numbers are automatically enrolled in this system, but for those with cellular phones, VOIP, or those who want to register additional phones, the numbers must be added through the opt-in registration page through DCSO.
Emergency alerts sent from Douglas County will come through with the Caller ID displayed as being 541-957-8147.
In the event of an emergency, Douglas County officials can identify the affected area and send a message that describes the situation and recommends the protective actions that residents should take. The CENS system will automatically call out to all landline and opt-in telephone numbers within a geographical area and deliver the message once a voice is heard. If the phone line is busy, the system will attempt to redial the number three times to make contact. If an answering machine picks up the call, the emergency message will be left on the machine.
The system can be used for situations like tsuami warnings, emergency evacuations, natural disaster alerts, missing child alerts, hazardous materials leaks and for neighborhood emergency incidents.