Volusia County, FL - At the Volusia County Council meeting on Thursday a grant and development company were approved for the development of an emergency management mobile application that will be ready for use by hurricane season.
The grant expenditure is $32,960, which includes a one-time development cost of $20,985 and an annual recurring maintenance fee of $11,975.
According to Larry LaHue, Senior Planner with the Volusia County Division of Emergency Management, the county went through the normal bidding process and chose OVC, LLC., a company out of Mobile, Alabama for the design and development of the application because of their experience in developing mobile applications for emergency management and law enforcement.
The application will be for use by the general public and available for iPhone, iPad and Android users. It will have real-time NOAA weather radio broadcasts and emergency management will be able to send push notifications during times of emergency.
For example, there will be a scrolling banner with images such as a sand bag to direct users to sand bag locations. The application will also show shelter locations and whether or not the shelters are open, closed or full. Still under development, the mobile application promises many additional features.
The application will be available in both English and Spanish and will be linked to Volusia County Emergency Management social media accounts. It will have links to Volusia County websites, such as volusia.org/emergency and will be accessible through app stores.
Photo courtesy of Lenka Horavova and Shutterstock.com.
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