AUGUSTA – At a Blaine House ceremony Friday, Gov. John Baldacci announced the launch of a statewide emergency alert notification system for an estimated 120,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing Mainers.

Depending on where deaf and hard-of-hearing people are located, one-way pagers, two-way pagers or NOAA weather alert radios with digital or amplified messages are being distributed through the Telecommunications Equipment Program. Funding for development was obtained with a Homeland Security grant.

“This state-of-the-art emergency alert and notification system for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Maine is the most sophisticated and comprehensive of its kind in the nation,” said Baldacci.

The governor was joined in making the announcement by representatives from the Maine Emergency Management Agency, the Division of Deafness and the Maine Center on Deafness, who worked closely together to develop the new service.

Anyone in Maine with a hearing loss may qualify to obtain equipment. The cost to the applicant is determined by income. Each person receiving equipment also receives training and a resource book with information about how to stay safe during emergencies.

The need for such a service first was identified during the Ice Storm of 1998, when widespread power outages trapped many Mainers in their homes. Deaf people were isolated in their homes with no way to learn about the seriousness of the storm.

For information, contact Jan DeVinney, Division of Deafness, at 624-5964 TTY, 624-5963 (V), or Mary Edgerton, Maine Center on Deafness, at (800) 639-3884 (V/TTY).