Okaloosa County has teamed up with the local chapters of the American Red Cross, United Way and AmeriCorps to better keep residents informed and prepared for hurricanes.

The Ready Okaloosa partnership, which includes the Sheriff’s Office and county Public Safety Department, aims to collect essential storm-related information from county residents so emergency officials will know where people are, and for residents to know what sort of risk they may face from storm surge or flooding now, before a storm threatens.

Each Friday in May, AmeriCorps volunteers will answer telephones for the county’s citizens information hotline and collect each caller’s name, address, telephone number and emergency contact information, and enter it into a database. Callers will be told what flood and storm surge zones they live in and the locations of the nearest hurricane shelters. The AmeriCorps volunteers will man the phones from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The hotline number is 651-7583.

In addition, participants will receive information on hurricane preparedness, such as step-by-step instruction booklets on storm preparation.

Volunteers may also go door to door to gather the information from residents who are not comfortable giving it to a volunteer over the phone.

The program is designed after a Red Cross hurricane emergency contact system that uses email to issue emergency warnings.

Residents can get an application by calling the public safety department at 651-7150 or online at www.co.okaloosa.fl.us.