A new emergency response system in Letcher County is already paying off.

Officials say the system is pretty easy to use, and it has many tools.

"We can make subgroups with it. We can do mapping with it. It has capabilities to do so much more that we don't fully understand yet," Paul Miles, of Letcher County Emergency Management, said.

The system can instantly notify hundreds of people in one isolated area in an emergency.

Officials had thought about getting the system before, but really pushed for it after they had trouble notifying people about contaminated water last year ago. Now, what used to take hours, takes only minutes.

"Within a matter of probably 45 minutes to an hour, everyone was called in the area," Judge Executive Jim Ward said.

In just the past few months, the system was used five times for emergency situation. Officials say it was a success, especially during the near-dam breach in Crafts Colley.

"We mapped out Crafts Colley, and we used the system to notify residents in that area. Also, it told them about the volunteer evacuation, and where they could go to," Miles said.

The system was also implemented when the Neon area flooded.

"If they had any problems, any flooding in the homes or where they could go to get food or anything like that," Whitesburg Police Chief Henry Day said.

Officials would rather not have emergencies to use this system, but are glad they can provide this service for the people of Letcher County.

Judge Executive Ward said the biggest problem with the system is there is no cell phone directory to reach everyone who doesn't have a home phone. However, you can sign up on the "one-call" website.

The link for that site is at the bottom of this story.

https://secure.onecallnow.com/access/geo/default.aspx?G=Isu334CGELy%2b5Ua56b%2fdnA%3d%3d