What kind of alerts does IslaTodo send?
IslaTodo monitors 25 categories of emergency events relevant to the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic
coastline, grouped into four families. Every alert is geo-targeted — you only receive alerts for events
that affect your specific location.
🌊 Natural hazards
🌊 Tsunami warnings
Issued from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and confirmed by USGS earthquake data.
🌀 Hurricane alerts
Tracks, intensity changes, landfall windows, and evacuation guidance from the National Hurricane Center.
🌍 Earthquakes
USGS and EMSC feed monitoring with two-source confirmation to filter false alarms. M5.0+ events trigger instant alerts.
⛈ Severe storms
Tropical storms, intense thunderstorms, lightning warnings, and high-wind events.
🌊 Flash floods
Coastal flooding, river flooding, and rip current warnings for North Coast beaches.
🌋 Volcanic activity
Regional volcanic events that could affect air quality or cause ashfall in DR.
🛡 Public safety
🚨 Active threat
Issued by verified local authorities — police actions, civil unrest, or other immediate-danger situations.
👶 Missing person / Amber-style
Coordinated alerts for missing children or vulnerable adults, when issued by local police.
🚧 Road closures
Major highway, Sosúa-Cabarete corridor, and Puerto Plata airport access disruptions.
⚠️ Travel advisories
Embassy-level travel guidance and consular notifications for foreign tourists.
🏥 Health
🦟 Disease outbreaks
Dengue, chikungunya, zika, and other vector-borne disease outbreaks affecting the region.
💧 Water quality
Beach closures, sargassum events, and tap-water advisories.
🏥 Medical emergencies
Hospital capacity warnings, blood drives, and major public-health notifications.
📋 General
⚡ Power outages
Region-wide blackouts and scheduled grid maintenance from EDENORTE and EDESUR.
📞 Communications
Major telecom or internet outages affecting Claro, Altice, or Viva customers in the region.
📢 General advisory
Important non-urgent notices — events, infrastructure work, scheduled disruptions.
Where do alerts come from?
IslaTodo aggregates official feeds from internationally recognized emergency authorities, plus verified
local officials in the Dominican Republic, into a single multilingual alert stream. Every alert links
back to the original source bulletin so you can verify and dig deeper.
PTWCPacific Tsunami Warning Center — issues all tsunami advisories for the Caribbean basin
USGSU.S. Geological Survey real-time earthquake feed (5+ magnitude triggers automatic review)
NHCNational Hurricane Center — Atlantic and Caribbean tropical cyclone tracking
EMSCEuropean-Mediterranean Seismological Centre — secondary earthquake confirmation
COE / Defensa CivilDominican Republic Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia bulletins
Verified local authoritiesMayors' offices, hotel emergency coordinators, and property managers issuing scoped local alerts
Multi-source confirmation logic prevents false alarms — for example, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake won't
trigger a tsunami alert unless the PTWC actually issues one. We err on the side of being silent rather
than crying wolf.
How do I receive alerts?
Every alert is sent through multiple channels in parallel — push notifications, email, and the in-app
banner — so you'll be reached even if one channel fails. Alerts are automatically translated into
English, Spanish, German, and French based on your device language.
📱
Push notifications
Loud klaxon and persistent notification on your phone, even when the app is closed.
📧
Email backup
Independent delivery channel with the full alert details and a link to live status.
🌐
In-app banner
The IslaTodo app shows active alerts at the top of every screen until they expire.
🆘
"I'm safe" check-in
Tap one button to mark yourself safe. Friends and family can confirm your status.
How geo-targeting works
You only receive alerts for events that actually affect your location. When you install the app, we
ask for permission to access your phone's GPS — your coordinates are sent to our server only when
you opt in to safety alerts, and only used to check whether you're in an alert's affected zone.
An alert can specify a center point and radius (e.g. "20km around Sosúa") or a precise polygon
(e.g. "this specific evacuation zone along Cabarete beach"). Your device's last known location
is checked against that zone — if you're inside, you're notified. If you're outside, the alert
doesn't disturb you.
A Canadian tourist in Sosúa today will get the tsunami warning. The same Canadian tourist who flew
home last week will not — even though their phone is still subscribed.
Privacy-first
No tracking
Opt-in only
Location stored only when opted in
Coverage area
IslaTodo's emergency alerts launched on the Dominican Republic North Coast — Sosúa,
Cabarete, Puerto Plata, Costambar, Playa Dorada, Perla Marina, and surrounding communities along
the Atlantic coastline of the DR.
The system is built to scale across the entire Caribbean. Additional regions — Punta Cana, Santo
Domingo, Santiago, plus other islands like Puerto Rico, USVI, BVI, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados,
Trinidad, Jamaica, and Aruba — will activate as we partner with local authorities in each region.
Frequently asked questions
- Is IslaTodo's emergency alert system free?
- Yes, completely free. No subscription, no premium tier for safety. Public-service mission.
- Do I need to install an app to receive alerts?
- The app gives you the loudest, most reliable alerts (with a synthesized klaxon and full-screen warning).
But you can also receive alerts via email by signing up at /subscribe without
installing anything.
- Will my phone wake me up if an alert is issued at night?
- Yes — alerts are sent with high-priority flags. On Android the notification is set to "important" with
an aggressive vibration pattern. On iOS, when you install the IslaTodo PWA on your home screen and
grant notification permission, alerts will sound even with the app closed. Loudest delivery comes from
the upcoming native iOS/Android apps with Critical Alerts entitlement.
- Will I get spammed with non-emergency notifications?
- No. The safety channel is reserved for genuine life-safety events. Marketing, daily-guide, and
booking notifications go through completely separate channels that you control independently.
- What languages are supported?
- English, Spanish (Español), German (Deutsch), and French (Français). The app auto-detects your phone's
language; alerts are pre-translated for common scenarios and machine-translated for live custom alerts.
- Can I see the source of an alert?
- Yes. Every alert includes a link to the original PTWC, USGS, NHC, or local-authority bulletin
so you can independently verify.
- What if I move to a different region in the DR?
- The app uses your phone's GPS, so as you travel, your alert zone updates automatically. Drive from
Sosúa to Punta Cana (when that region launches) and your alerts shift with you.
- I'm a property manager / hotel — can I issue alerts?
- Yes. We have a multi-tenant authority system that lets vetted local officials, mayors' offices,
and hotel emergency coordinators send scoped alerts to their specific area. Contact us to apply.
Get the alerts
Free, takes 30 seconds. Works on iPhone, Android, and the web.