KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — Kingsport residents scrambled to figure out the cause of an explosion-like noise at Eastman Monday morning amid a “steam line failure,” as reported by the chemical company.

Several community members opted to call 911 following the blast of sound that News Channel 11 viewers claimed to have heard from as far away as Piney Flats.

News Channel 11 reached out to Kingsport officials, who reminded residents of the city’s emergency resource: an automated emergency alerts system, which has been available to residents for more than 20 years.

The system pushes out emergency alerts to residents via cell phones; city landlines are automatically enrolled in the emergency program, according to officials.

The system can call up to 150,000 numbers per alert, and residents can also opt for text messages and email alerts.

In regard to emergencies that occur within an organization or company, Kingsport must be alerted by the entity to push out the information from the city’s R-911 system, a city spokesperson said.

To sign up for Kingsport’s emergency alert system, CLICK HERE.

Other local areas’ emergency alert systems include the following:

Monday night, Eastman announced that at least some of the debris that fell on surrounding neighborhoods after the steam line failure contained asbestos.