Braker said the Webb City department received a number of calls from people questioning the alert calls, but they did not provide any information on the location of the woman, who he said had walked away from her house on earlier occasions.

The new system began operations in early June. It allows residents to be notified by telephone either countywide or in a specific geographic area of information ranging from a hazardous-materials spill to severe weather to problems with water or sewer service.

The system is housed in the Jasper County 911 building. It is shared by the county and the city of Joplin, and replaces outdated systems owned by each entity. The system was purchased for nearly $36,000, with $20,000 of the initial price coming from the Jasper County Commission. The commission first looked at buying storm sirens for weather alerts in rural towns that had no warning system, then decided reverse 911 would be a better alternative. An additional $2,000 was paid by the Local Emergency Planning Committee, with the Jasper County Emergency Services Board paying remaining costs. Joplin and the county board will share continuing costs after the first year.

Registration

Residents with traditional land-line telephones already are part of the system that links phone numbers with geographic addresses. Cellular-telephone numbers can be registered for the system via the Web sites of the Joplin Police Department and the Jasper County Emergency Services Board.