MORGANTON, N.C. — The City of Morganton has announced a partnership with Burke County to expand its emergency notification system, giving residents and travelers more ways to receive alerts about emergencies and public information.

The city says it will now use the Burke County emergency alert platform known as Burke Alert. The system allows people to receive notifications through text messages, emails, or voice calls for emergencies and non-emergency situations involving Morganton.

Officials say notification options include utility outage alerts, road closures and construction updates, severe weather warnings, and other public information notices.

Residents who already signed up for Burke County alerts can log into their accounts and opt in to new notification lists specifically for the City of Morganton. Those lists will begin with “City of Morganton” to help avoid confusion with county-wide alerts.

Burke County officials say more than 18,000 residents have already signed up for Burke Alert.

City Manager Sally Sandy said the system will help improve communication with residents during emergencies and important community events.

Public Information Officer Jonelle Sigmon said timely information can make a major difference during severe weather, road closures, utility outages, and other emergencies.

Burke 911 Assistant Director and Public Information Officer Chris White said the system has already proven effective county-wide and will now help streamline communication for Morganton residents as well.

People can sign up for the alerts by visiting the Burke Alert website and creating an account with an email address and phone number. Users can then choose which alerts they want to receive and update their preferences at any time.