Emergency notices about the shooting near Texas A&M University on Monday were sent out electronically.
But many people don't know that San Antonio has its own emergency notification system. It's called Alert SA and is designed to spread the word in case of a disaster.
San Antonio has a reverse 911 system in place for land lines. But more people are dropping their home phones for cell service.
Alert SA extends emergency alerts to cell phones using voice messages, emails and texting.
The system can be targeted to certain sections of the city or the entire metro area. Certain instructions will be included depending on the situation.
“If it’s flooding, we might tell you to shelter in place, we might tell you to evacuate to a specific location. If it’s a chemical leak we might say close your windows shut off your ac,” said Lawrence Trevino, who is an emergency management coordinator.
