Sheriff’s Office updates public notification system in wake of Hurricane Matthew

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is encouraging county residents to sign up for an online notification system and to ignore misinformation spread through unreliable sources and social media.

Those interested in staying informed during an emergency or natural disaster can stay up to date with current information by signing up for NIXLE texts and emails from the Sheriff’s Office at www.bcso.net.

Reliable information also will be posted to the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BeaufortCoSO and the department’s Twitter account at www.twitter.com/bcsotraffic.

First responders also plan to post photographs taken during a hurricane or another natural disaster to www.dropevent.com. Residents can view the photos by signing up on the website and searching www.dropevent.com/gallery/BeaufortCountySO.

“In the event of an emergency or natural disaster, please look to your county and local government officials, along with trusted print, radio and television media as your sources of information and instruction,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. “We urge you to avoid information spread through social media, unless disseminated by one of the trusted sources.”

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s Office updates public notification system in wake of Hurricane Matthew."