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CodeRED works with the National Weather Service to dictate what warnings it releases to those on their system. Flash flood warnings are just one of the events CodeRED is designed to warn citizens about.
CodeRED
ment personnel how to use the system and typically use Web-based training when new features are added. She, like Fite, said the polygonal mapping technology used for storm warnings is very accurate and an improvement over tornado sirens. Maxwell agreed that sirens lose their effectiveness when they go off for everyone in the county when only one part is threatened. Besides, some people living in rural areas aren’t close enough to sirens to hear them and even people in range of a siren might be in a noisy environment and aren’t notified. Maxwell also praised the CodeRED app, stating a great feature of
it is that it will follow users anywhere and keep them informed of emergencies in any area they happen to be traveling providing the service is offered there. Maxwell said the only real problem she’s noticed with CodeRED is that people receiving a call from it will see an “800” number pop up on their phones. People often don’t answer a call when they see it is from someone using one of those toll-free numbers and that means the potential to miss out on emergency information is there. Mason said CodeRED has taken some steps to eliminate that prob-
lem. On cell phones, for example, people get a call from CodeRED after enrolling in the system to receive weather warnings. She said CodeRED advises people to add that number as a contact when they see it so they’ll know CodeRED is trying to reach them in the future. When CodeRED sets up in an area, Mason said calls are sent out automatically to residents to test the part of the system dedicated to things other than weather warnings. Tose calls are from a separate phone number, and Mason said residents are advised to add those to their contact lists and mark them as CodeRED numbers. Sonja Estes, director of the Izard County Office of Emergency
Management, said her county uses only the weather alerts system. Te cost to Izard County for that service is $7,500 a year. She agreed that it would be ideal if everyone in the county would sign up for the system so tornado sirens could be done away with completely. However, only around 1,900 people out of 13,000 coun- ty residents have signed up for CodeRED.
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Polygonal mapping on CodeRED’s mobile app.
Estes said her county is also trying to get people to sign up, adding that CodeRED officials have been working with her on strategies to market the product to citizens. CodeRED also built an Internet site for Izard County specifically for the purpose of giving people a place to sign up for the system. Estes said the service has worked very well so far, adding the only
problem she’s had was that citizens in Horseshoe Bend weren’t no- tified of a storm there by the system. Estes said CodeRED issues warnings when the National Weather Service does. If the National Weather Service drops the ball, then CodeRED doesn’t issue a warn- ing because the source it relies on for that information has failed. All in all, however, Estes has been impressed with the system and counts it as a great investment for Izard County. While the problem of getting people to enroll in the system has been a struggle, Estes sees the potential for CodeRED to become the primary method through which citizens are warned about storms.
COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2013
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