The system had been activated 37 seconds earlier, when one of the officials clicked a button on a computer.

"This is as close to the magic bullet as it can get," said Steve Bailey, director of Pierce County Emergency Management.

The system is called Intellicast, often referred to as reserve 911. The officials said it proved its effectiveness during last month's flood in the Puyallup Valley as they tried to evacuate thousands of people.

"The water was moving so fast we didn't have enough people going door-to-door," said Jody Woodcock, spokeswoman for county emergency management.

During the heavy rains that preceded last week's windstorm, the county was getting ready to use the system again for the Orting area as the Puyallup River neared flood level.

However, it wasn't needed because the water never spilled over the levees, Bailey said.

With a few clicks of a mouse from the county's Emergency Operations Center -- or any 911 dispatching center in the county -- the system sends out emergency alerts to phones.

The system still is not capable of delivering alerts to residents' cell phones in a disaster area, unlike last week's test. But it allows officials to send alerts to landline phones in all spots designated on a computer mapping program.

And they can send messages in the order they want, enabling them to avoid calling everyone simultaneously and causing a panic in the streets.

The county has spent $500,000 for a five-year contract with Denver-based intrado.

The cost includes setting up the system, training and other things, Bailey said. The county also has budgeted $150,000 for the system's use next year.

During last month's flooding, the system made calls to more than 13,000 households in Puyallup Valley communities. Messages were delivered to 75 percent to 80 percent of households, said Ken Parrish, county emergency management program manager.

The calls went out in less than eight minutes, Parrish said. Unanswered calls were the result of busy lines, modems in use, no answer and other reasons.

County officials activated the system during the flood, but the calls originated from Denver, leaving valuable local phone lines free when officials needed them.

During the 1996 flood, the county and local fire departments dispatched deputies and firefighters to knock on residents' doors along the river.

Some McKenna residents sued the county because they didn't get timely evacuation notices, though they didn't prevail in court, Bailey said.

The latest system, which has been up for about six months, adds another layer to the county's efforts to set up a regional emergency notification network.

The county in the past several years installed sirens along the Puyallup River to warn residents of a mudflow from Mount Rainier. The sirens are tied in with sensors on the mountain, as well as the National Weather Services' emergency alert signal system, which sends messages through weather radios and media outlets.

Although the latest phone system is the best tool available in emergency notification, officials said residents should have as many tools as they can to prepare for disaster.

"This shouldn't prevent people from buying the weather radio," Woodcock said.

Officials said they now have to educate county residents that the system is in place.

"We need to let them know that they may get a phone call in the middle of the night," Bailey said.

other systems

Pierce County is ahead of its neighbors when it comes to the emergency alert system Intellicast. King County doesn't have such a system, and Thurston's doesn't cover the entire county.

Auburn started a similar system last spring, known as Auburn Alert.

University Place plans to get its own system, produced by a company called Code Red, running by early next year, said Deputy City Manager Rob Karlinsey.

While the county system is limited to major disasters, UP's version will have wider applications, such as informing residents about a rash of convenience store robberies or telling them about public meetings, Karlinsey said.

University Place's system costs $14,000 for the first year and $7,000 each following year. The city got a $10,000 federal grant to help subsidize the first year's cost.

Written by The News Tribune