Did you know that you can opt in to receive special emergency "Twitter Alerts" from select organizations?
Designed to complement, rather than replace, other emergency notification systems, you can sign up to see special tweets from law enforcement and public safety organizations, emergency management agencies, governments, and other state and federal agencies.
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The tweets, which publish during a crisis or emergency, "contain up-to-date information relevant to an unfolding event, such as public safety warnings and evacuation instructions," according to the Twitter Help Center.
It takes only a few moments to get these alerts set up on your Twitter account, but they could make a big difference in the safety and well-being of you and your loved ones during an emergency situation.
Take a look through our brief instructions on how to activate these alerts now, and see below for a partial list of, and further links to, participating organizations.

Once you're signed into Twitter, you simply need to head to the Alerts setup page for the specific organizations you'd like to hear from in an emergency.
You can find this page by adding "/alerts" to the organization's Twitter URL. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Alerts page is https://twitter.com/fema/alerts, while the American Red Cross' Alerts page can be found at https://twitter.com/redcross/alerts.

Click on the blue box that says, "Activate Alerts from @AccountName." If you haven't linked a mobile phone number to your Twitter account, you'll be prompted to do so here.
Adding a phone number and activating Twitter text messaging means that you will be able to receive alerts via SMS.
In addition, alerts will appear highlighted in your Home timeline. If you use the official Twitter for iPhone or Twitter for Android apps, you'll also get alerts as push notifications.
Follow the links below to head directly to the Alerts setup pages for the following national organizations.
American Red Cross
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management: National Interagency Fire Center
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Federal Emergency Management Agency
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Park Service: Fire and Aviation
Ready.gov: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Travel.gov: U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior
To see a full list of U.S., regional, international and global organizations that participate in the Twitter Alerts program, visit the official Twitter list.
Image: Flickr, Matthew Rogers