It's true that technologies such as teletypewriters, closed-captioning for television and other services have eased the strain of being unable to communicate easily.

But many deaf Mainers still feel they're the last to be alerted to emergency situations that could do and do affect them. For example, they often miss emeergency alerts regarding severe weather, civil emergencies, major road closures and even amber alerts for missing children on radio and television.

But help for those who are deaf or hard of hearing has now arrived. On March 1, the Emergency Notification System for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing began operating. The system was a joint effort by the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), Division of Deafness (DoD) and the Maine Center on Deafness (MCD). With this new program, deaf and hard of hearing residents can now receive alerts about any emergency in Maine sent out by the state, including those from such agencies as the Maine State Police and the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

Much of the money and support needed to begin and operate this program came from the Department of Homeland Security and MEMA. Grants and services totaling $48,000 were secured by MEMA to set up the program and purchase equipment. Another $26,000 came from a State fund which receives its money from the surcharges on telephone bills.

Participants in the program can receive Statewide Emergency Alert System notices such as tornado warnings, flash flood warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, civil emergency messages and child-abduction notifications. Also available are alerts by county, such as National Weather Service Alerts, Department of Public Safety Alerts and alerts from the Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority.

This program allows deaf or hard of hearing citizens to use their on equipment to receive these alerts. They may be eligible to receive equipment from the Maine Center on Deafness free, or at reduced cost, depending on income. The devices include one- and two-way pagers, a weather alert radio with a digital readout or amplifier.

For more information about the program, contact the Maine Center on Deafness in Portland via voice or TTY at 797-7656 or 1-800-639-3884.

From Gray Public Safety Communications