CodeRED Weather Alerts

The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., of Ormond Beach, Florida, for its “CodeRED” high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives county and city officials the ability to deliver emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas, a city or the entire county at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. Also included is the CodeRED Weather Warning service, which automatically places calls when the National Weather Service issues a tornado, flood, and severe weather warning. The Weather Warning will notify registered phone numbers for addresses within the warning’s polygon that is drawn by the weather service.  The web-based enrollment in the CodeRED emergency notification system is free to the public and businesses. Online enrollment begins April 15. The system will go live in Black Hawk County July 1, 2009.

Frank Magsamen, Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission Chair, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone database supporting them. Magsamen notes that, “If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called.” The CodeRED system gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly to the system’s telephone database. Magsamen emphasized that this is an extremely important feature.

To ensure no one is omitted, Magsamen urges all individuals and businesses to log onto the Black Hawk County website (www.co.black-hawk.ia.us)and follow the link to the “CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection” page. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, primary phone number, and additional phone numbers (optional).  The City of Cedar Falls (www.cedarfalls.com) and the City of Waterloo (www.waterloo-ia.org) have links on their web pages.  The cities of Evansdale (http://evansdale.govoffice.com), Hudson (www.cityofhudsonia.com) and La Porte City (www.laportecityia.com) also have links on their homepages.  You can connect to these websites from any computer that has Internet access, including public use computers at libraries.

“No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included,” Magsamen said. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the last year, and who use a cellular phone as their primary home phone.  People who move within the county but keep the same listed or unlisted phone number will need to update their address in the database.

Magsamen explained that “the CodeRED system is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation. The system works fine for cell phones too, but we have to have a street address.”  ”The CodeRED Weather Warning won’t notify the entire county if there is, say, a tornado warning,” Magsamen said. “It will specifically call those registered people who live within the warning area polygon issued by the weather service.”  Any resident who registers their phone number(s) online will receive the CodeRED Weather Warning alerts unless they choose to opt-out of this service by unchecking the box in the CodeRED Weather Warning section on the registration page.

Magsamen stated, “CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for doing so.  The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes.”  The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission is made up of the mayor of each city in the county, a member of the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors, and the County Sheriff.  People without Internet access or with questions about CodeRED should contact the Black Hawk County Emergency Management Agency Office, 319-291-4373 Monday-Friday (9 AM – 5 PM) for additional information.

Posted: August 19th, 2009 under Weather.
Comments: none

CodeRED Weather Alerts

The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., of Ormond Beach, Florida, for its “CodeRED” high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives county and city officials the ability to deliver emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas, a city or the entire county at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. Also included is the CodeRED Weather Warning service, which automatically places calls when the National Weather Service issues a tornado, flood, and severe weather warning. The Weather Warning will notify registered phone numbers for addresses within the warning’s polygon that is drawn by the weather service.  The web-based enrollment in the CodeRED emergency notification system is free to the public and businesses. Online enrollment begins April 15. The system will go live in Black Hawk County July 1, 2009.

Frank Magsamen, Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission Chair, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone database supporting them. Magsamen notes that, “If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called.” The CodeRED system gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly to the system’s telephone database. Magsamen emphasized that this is an extremely important feature.

To ensure no one is omitted, Magsamen urges all individuals and businesses to log onto the Black Hawk County website (www.co.black-hawk.ia.us)and follow the link to the “CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection” page. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, primary phone number, and additional phone numbers (optional).  The City of Cedar Falls (www.cedarfalls.com) and the City of Waterloo (www.waterloo-ia.org) have links on their web pages.  The cities of Evansdale (http://evansdale.govoffice.com), Hudson (www.cityofhudsonia.com) and La Porte City (www.laportecityia.com) also have links on their homepages.  You can connect to these websites from any computer that has Internet access, including public use computers at libraries.

“No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included,” Magsamen said. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the last year, and who use a cellular phone as their primary home phone.  People who move within the county but keep the same listed or unlisted phone number will need to update their address in the database.

Magsamen explained that “the CodeRED system is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation. The system works fine for cell phones too, but we have to have a street address.”  ”The CodeRED Weather Warning won’t notify the entire county if there is, say, a tornado warning,” Magsamen said. “It will specifically call those registered people who live within the warning area polygon issued by the weather service.”  Any resident who registers their phone number(s) online will receive the CodeRED Weather Warning alerts unless they choose to opt-out of this service by unchecking the box in the CodeRED Weather Warning section on the registration page.

Magsamen stated, “CodeRED gives those who want to be included an easy and secure method for doing so.  The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes.”  The Black Hawk County Emergency Management Commission is made up of the mayor of each city in the county, a member of the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors, and the County Sheriff.  People without Internet access or with questions about CodeRED should contact the Black Hawk County Emergency Management Agency Office, 319-291-4373 Monday-Friday (9 AM – 5 PM) for additional information.

Posted: April 20th, 2009 under Weather.
Comments: 1