TL;DR: NotifyLA is the City of Los Angeles' free, automated emergency mass-notification system that sends recorded phone messages, text messages, and emails targeted to the geographic area impacted by an emergency.
The City of Los Angeles uses NotifyLA to send emergency alerts via phone, email, or text, and residents are urged to subscribe to stay informed about emergencies in their neighborhoods, at schools or businesses, and at other locations important to them, according to the NotifyLA: LA City Emergency Alerts | Emergency Management Department. The system is operated for residents, businesses, and visitors to provide emergency information regarding necessary protective actions, such as evacuation orders, in emergencies or critical situations. Registration is free, and households can list multiple points of contact and multiple addresses and set language preferences.
What NotifyLA is and who runs it
NotifyLA is the City of Los Angeles' official mass notification system used to send voice messages, text messages, and email messages to residents and businesses during times of emergencies and disasters, according to Get Alerted of Local Emergencies from NotifyLA | City of Los Angeles. The program is administered by the Emergency Management Department, located at 500 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, reachable at (213) 484-4800 at [email protected].
The department describes NotifyLA as the City's mass notification system used to provide emergency information regarding necessary protective actions, such as evacuation orders, to Los Angeles residents, businesses, and visitors. Alerts are sent in the event of emergencies or critical situations. A September 21, 2026 update titled EMERGENCY ALERTS: Sign up with NotifyLA | Emergency Management Department states that there are a variety of ways that the City can reach residents during an emergency and that residents are encouraged to sign up for all alert platforms relevant to where they live, work, and spend time in Los Angeles.
The City presents NotifyLA as its best way to communicate with the public during emergencies and disasters, according to Get Prepared | Ready Your LA Neighborhood (RYLAN). That preparedness page says it is free and easy to sign up at NotifyLA.org. The Emergency Management Department's alerts hub adds that City residents should subscribe to stay informed about emergencies in their neighborhoods, at schools or businesses, and at other important locations, according to the Emergency Alerts | Emergency Management Department.
How NotifyLA reaches you
NotifyLA is a free, automated system used to reach the public via recorded phone messages, text messages, and emails. While some landline, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and cellphone numbers are automatically included in the system, residents should make sure to register every number at their address. To ensure receipt of notifications, residents should register those numbers and emails with NotifyLA.
An earlier City explainer says that because NotifyLA uses the 911 database, only land-line numbers are automatically included in the system, and that in order to receive a notification via cell phone, Voice over IP (VoIP) number, or email, residents must register those telephone numbers or email addresses in NotifyLA. Registration is free. Whether described through the 911 database or through automatic inclusion of some landline, VoIP, and cellphone numbers, the practical household step is the same: create an account and manually enter cell numbers, VoIP numbers, and email addresses.
Alerts are sent by targeting a specific geographic location and will only be received by the people in the area impacted by the emergency. The City also describes this as geomapping, meaning alerts are targeted by geographic location and will only be sent to subscribers in the area impacted by the emergency. That geographic targeting is why households are encouraged to register multiple addresses, such as home, work, school, and other locations important to them.
What kinds of messages NotifyLA sends
The Emergency Management Department lists five categories of NotifyLA messages:
- Early warning notices
- Disaster notifications
- Evacuation notices
- Public health notices
- Public safety notices of imminent or perceived threats to life or property
The department says this information keeps the public informed when a disaster occurs and provides official information on what to do to stay safe. The City's explainer adds that the information will keep the public informed when a disaster occurs and will provide preemptive warnings in some cases. The department also states that notifying the public when a disaster strikes might be the one and only safeguard the public can count on to save their lives and protect their property.
For preparedness planning, that means treating a NotifyLA message as an official protective-action instruction, not background news. Evacuation notices in particular may require immediate movement, while early warning notices, disaster notifications, public health notices, and public safety notices may direct residents to take shelter, avoid an area, check on household members, or follow further official direction.
How to sign up and add household contacts
Residents can provide multiple points of contact and multiple addresses, and set language preferences by registering for alert systems offered by LA City. The NotifyLA registration portal is hosted at https://member.everbridge.net/453003085619167/new, where users create an account and enter contact information.
Households should register every number at their address. That includes cell phones for each family member, VoIP home-phone numbers, and email addresses that are checked regularly. Adding school, workplace, and other important locations helps ensure that alerts follow household members through the day, not just at the home address.
The Emergency Management Department lists its contact as 500 E. Temple St. Los Angeles, CA 90012, Call (213) 484-4800, [email protected]. Requests related to access and functional needs may be made by contacting (213) 484-4800, Dial 711 for CA Relay, or [email protected].
Make sure alerts get through: caller ID, Do Not Disturb, and WEA
Alert delivery depends on household phone settings. Calls come from 213-472-3231. Residents should add NotifyLA as a contact under that number so calls and texts are recognized and are less likely to be missed or blocked.
The department advises residents to check Do Not Disturb settings and to check Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) settings. WEA messages go directly to cellphones and are used to send urgent alert and warning messages targeting certain geographic areas, according to Ready LA County | Emergency Notifications. That county guide says WEAs look like text messages but are designed to get attention with a unique sound and vibration repeated twice, and that residents should verify that the appropriate settings are enabled on their phones.
While every attempt will be made to contact residents and businesses in response to an emergency, there are factors that may impact completion of those calls. These factors can include loss of electrical power, telephone company line capacity, and caller ID/spam blocking. The City explainer also lists busy conditions and caller ID blocking among factors that may affect delivery. Keeping phones charged, maintaining backup power for communications where possible, and reviewing spam-blocking apps are practical household steps consistent with those stated limits.
How to check enrollment and unsubscribe
To check enrollment, the department directs residents to create an account and enter contact information through the Everbridge registration link. If alerts are already arriving, enrollment for that delivery path is active.
To unsubscribe via SMS (text), reply to any NotifyLA SMS alert message with one of the following keywords spelled exactly as shown: STOP, END, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, or CANCEL. For voice unsubscribe, after receiving an alert via phone call, wait until the recorded alert message ends, then press 0 (zero) to unsubscribe. For email unsubscribe, after receiving a NotifyLA email alert, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the message, which leads to a unique unsubscribe page for the subscription.
If subscribed by more than one delivery method, residents may opt out of each using those instructions, or unsubscribe from just certain ones and leave others activated. Households that want to reduce duplicate messages but remain protected can keep at least one reliable path active.
Accessibility and relay services
Individuals relying on Telecommunication Relay Services (TRS) — such as Text-to-Voice TTY-based TRS, Speech-to-Speech Relay Service, Shared Non-English Language Relay Services, Captioned Telephone Service; IP Captioned Telephone Service, Internet Protocol Relay Service, or Video Relay Service as well as Teletypewriter for the Deaf (TTY) — are encouraged to sign up to receive text messages using a smartphone or mobile device by providing a TTY or mobile number.
The department also notes that Alert LA County has accessibility features for people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, and that once registered, users should add the Alert LA County telephone numbers to contacts. Households that include members who use relay services, captioning, or assistive devices should register a mobile number capable of receiving texts and confirm that message previews and alerts bypass quiet settings where the device allows.
City vs. county vs. statewide alerts
NotifyLA covers the City of Los Angeles. Alert LA County is the opt-in mass notification program of the County of Los Angeles which allows residents, workers, and others to receive emergency alerts by text, email and/or phone call. City residents who also work, attend school, or spend time elsewhere in the county should consider registering for both systems so home and daytime locations are covered.
To learn about the emergency notification systems used in other California counties or cities where residents or their friends or family members spend time, the City points to the CalAlerts website. The county's emergency-notifications guide similarly advises residents that cities, special districts, employers, schools, and universities may each have their own emergency notification systems, and that residents should research which systems are available where they live and work and sign up so they are informed when there is a local emergency.
Beyond opt-in text, email, and phone systems, the county notes two broadcast layers: the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which broadcasts emergency information directly to radio and television carriers and interrupts normal programming to provide emergency information in the form of an audio message and a text crawl or display on televisions; and Weather Radio Alerts issued in partnership with the National Weather Service to expand alerts in hazard areas, especially in areas with poor cellphone coverage. Weather radios that use Specific Area Message Encoding (S.A.M.E.) technology can be programmed for use in Los Angeles County.
Pair alerts with a household readiness baseline
The City's Ready Your LA Neighborhood program advises residents to start an emergency kit, start a household emergency communication plan, and start receiving emergency alerts. Its kit guidance calls for water at 1 gallon per person or pet per day with a plan for 3-7 days, a 3-7 day supply of non-perishable foods like granola bars, crackers, peanut butter, and canned food plus a manual can opener, pet food, and baby formula, along with a battery-operated or hand-crank radio, flashlight and batteries, whistle to signal for help, duct tape and plastic sheeting, hygiene supplies, toilet paper, wet wipes, garbage bags, tools including a shut-off wrench for gas lines, hammer, pliers, shovel, axe, hard hat, and working gloves, local maps, blankets and sleeping bags, extra clothes and good shoes, medications, and spare or old eyeglasses.
That same program notes that disasters rarely happen at an ideal time and that families or households might not be at home or together when disaster strikes, making a plan for how to communicate if separated important. Registering multiple addresses and contacts in NotifyLA supports that plan by pushing official instructions to each location and device when a localized emergency occurs.