Campbell County encouraging people to register for new emergency alert system

CAMPBELL COUNTY (WSLS 10) - Campbell County is transitioning to codeRED, a new emergency notification system.

CodeRED was selected after three different bids. The county's old system, Geocomm, a reverse 911 system, was no longer supported by the company.

"Even those with landlines, we are encouraging those to go ahead and register because they will receive alerts from the National Weather Service. So if there was a tornado that will come through they will automatically receive that alert. Now if there was a local crisis, such as a Hazmat spill or a railway incident, public safety can send information to specific neighborhood or specific regions throughout the county with this system," said Director of Public and Employee Relations Sherry Harding.

The Campbell County Department of Public Safety wants all residents and businesses to register for alerts.

Residents can select the type of alerts they want to receive by landline, email, text or cell phone after signing up on the county's website.

For those who don't have a computer at home, they can visit any Campbell County library where workers with help walk them through the process.

Anita Dragan, who lives in the county, signed up for the alerts when they became available earlier this week.

"I live in a rural community and we're like the last house in the boundaries. So it's nice to be able to get information easily available," said Dragan.

The 911 center in Rustburg will also be part of the system by issuing local emergency alerts for specific regions and neighborhoods.

So far, Harding said hundreds of people already signed up to receive national and local alerts. The system will be tested on landline phones Tuesday, February 21 at 11 a.m.

The CodeRED platform works jointly with the Campbell County GIS database, the federal IPAWS network, and the National Weather Service to send these automated emergency messages.

Public safety officials are asking all residents and businesses to register for the alerts on the online CodeRED system.

CodeRED cost $13,000 a year with a three-year contract.

More information concerning CodeRED from the official press release:

 

Please note: While some alerts will be sent automatically to landline phones, individuals and businesses with landlines will need to register in order to receive emergency notifications from federal agencies such as the National Weather Service for alerts about emergencies such as tornado warnings. Also, by registering you can confirm that your landline information provided by the phone company is correct.

 

You also need to register if you would like text, emails, or phone call alerts of any kind sent to your cell phones and/or phone calls to unlisted landline phone numbers.

Therefore, all residents and businesses are being asked to register.