Montgomery County owns a “reverse 911” system capable of quickly calling thousands of residents during emergencies, but officials can only confirm having used it once: To tell polling places to stay open an extra hour during February’s primaries.
Montgomery Council President Mike Knapp criticized the county’s emergency management leaders for not using the Reverse 911 system after a recent water main break required notifying tens of thousands of residents to boil water before use. Montgomery County Homeland Security Director Gordon Aoyagi said the county has had a Reverse 911 calling system for the past four to six months, but it’s tough to isolate calls to large affected areas during crisis situations, and using the system would have cost Montgomery $200,000 to $300,000.
