CodeRED sends critical communications to users

CodeRED is a free emergency notification service that allows officials to notify residents and businesses by telephone, cell phone, text message and email regarding time-sensitive general and emergency notifications.

The system is used to send critical communications to users, such as evacuation notices, hazardous traffic or road conditions, boil water advisories and missing child alerts.

Ron Leal says that when he became Emergency Management Director of Cheyenne County one and a half years ago, he thought that this county would be the perfect place to push CodeRED.

Leal went on to add that at the Spring Expo in April, there were many people who had never heard of CodeRED and were not aware of how the system could help.

CodeRED Weather Warning is a unique service that automatically notifies citizens in the path of severe weather just moments after a warning has been issued by the National Weather Service. This limited CodeRED Weather Warning subscription is available to you at no direct cost.

The Emergency Management agency wants to raise awareness of CodeRED and they encourage residents to sign up for it.

For more information about CodeRED or to sign up for it, go to http://www.co.cheyenne.ne.us or http://www.cityofsidney.org (click on the CodeRED link).

There is an option to also add your place of business to the alert notification system, so that your work location will be monitored for severe weather also. But note that emergency calls can only be delivered to a direct dial number; automated attendants will disrupt the process and the calls will not be delivered.

There is also a free mobile app to download onto your iPhone or Android phone that will allow CodeRED to follow you wherever you go and send relevant alerts.

If you don’t have Internet access, contact the Region 21 Emergency Management Office for an enrollment application 308-254-7003.

Your contact information remains private; it will only be used for severe weather alerts, or in areas that have CodeRED for community notifications, you will also receive messages delivered through the system. CodeRED does not sell, trade, lease or loan any citizen supplied data to third parties.

If a CodeRED emergency message has been sent, your phone’s caller ID will show 866-419-5000. The call will show up as 855-969-4636 on your phone when aCodeRED general message has been sent. You may call the numbers back to hear the message that was just delivered. It might be a good idea to pre-program these numbers into your phone so that you will know when there is an alert being sent.

– Lisana Eckenrode