CODEREDEmergency-alert signs up 111 in two days

Published 12:05 pm Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The CodeRed emergency alert system is online countywide and early reports show a smooth start, the county’s top emergency official said.

On Monday and Tuesday, 111 people registered a land line or cell phone number into the system via the Warren County Emergency Management Agency’s link on the county’s website, EMA director John Elfer said.

It brings to about 1,350 the number of people in Vicksburg and Warren County who’ve registered to be called or texted about looming bad weather, evacuation orders, traffic alerts and other general notifications at no direct cost to individuals. The city made it available in 2008.

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Some of the first registrants through the county’s website included those adding non-city addresses or additional numbers.

“People have entered multiple numbers and multiple addresses,” Elfer said.

To enroll, people must enter a physical address and denote whether it’s a home or business, their name, at least one phone number and what types of alerts they want.

Those include emergency notifications, general notifications and weather-related alerts that will follow warnings issued by the National Weather Service for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods.

Registration assistance is available at Emergency Management offices in the basement of the Warren County Courthouse on Cherry Street.

In May, Warren County signed a contract with the system’s Florida-based operator, Emergency Communications Network, to make non-city addresses eligible to receive the alerts for three years.

It’ll cost the county general fund $15,625 the first year and $18,750 the final two years.

Last December, weather warning capability was added to the city’s contract for CodeRed, which will cost the city $10,500 this year and $10,700 next year.