SARANAC LAKE — In the event of unexpected inclement weather, utility failures or other emergencies, the village of Saranac Lake is encouraging residents to sign up for Hyper-Reach.

It’s a messaging service run by Franklin County Emergency Services that delivers localized alerts when an event occurs in your area.

Village officials praised the service at Monday night’s village Board of Trustees meeting.

“We received text alerts, phone alerts on both cellphone and landlines, and emails to the fact that there was an ice storm,” Trustee Rich Shapiro said of last Wednesday’s freezing rain. “Don’t-go-outside-stay-at-home sort of thing, and I think it was really good.”

Village Manager John Sweeney said if a winter storm forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday gets as bad as predictions say, he will issue a similar alert. The National Weather Service is calling for more than a foot of snow.

Once you put in your address and phone number at http://www.frcoemergencyservices.org under the “Hyper-Reach Sign Up” link, you will receive text, email or phone alerts when an emergency in your area occurs.

“If you are a resident of the village but you don’t have your address that’s within Franklin County, we offered 39 Main (the Harrietstown Town Hall) as an address to put in, and that still works with the system,” said village Community Development Assistant Cassandra Hopkins. “You’ll still get texted or emailed.”