The Isle of Man doesn't have a UK-style emergency text message system because it would cost a million pounds to set up.
That's according to Justice and Home Affairs Minister Jane Poole-Wilson, who faced questions about the alerts in the House of Keys this week.
Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse wanted to know if the Isle of Man could let people in affected areas know of life-threatening situations with a national warning alarm.
Mrs Poole-Wilson said the government uses the opt-in Everbridge system because a UK-style scheme proved too expensive:
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