Good morning EMA partners

The Wood County Emergency Agency is reminding citizens that there are many methods to receive notification of severe weather.

There is no doubt that outdoor warning sirens have been useful over the years, the EMA said in a news release. However, as technology capabilities have grown, we now have additional notification options to consider. Remember, all technology can fail, and it is important to always have multiple ways to receive emergency alerts.

Alerts and Notifications

Getting weather and emergency information from a trusted source is very important. Always have multiple ways to receive emergency notifications (National Weather Service, NOAA weather radio, local broadcast radio, television stations, and Wood County’s mass notification system CodeRED). The Emergency Alert System are messages sent over television and radio and Wireless Emergency Alerts are delivered to mobile devices.

Phone apps and WEA are great ways to get information wherever you are since they are based on the location of your device. In most cases, you will only be notified if you are physically in an area of concern. These alerts are being pushed out by your cell provider. Your phone recognizes it is in the area of concern and alerts you accordingly. For those with privacy concerns, this information is broadly being pushed out by your provider, not sent to you as an individual or being tracked by the alerting authority.

CodeRED Mass Notification System

In 2019, CodeRED was implemented countywide. Thanks to Northwest Water and Sewer District, it was identified that at the time there were multiple CodeRED accounts throughout Wood County. Former EMA Director Brad Gilbert and the Wood County Commissioners worked with CodeRED to create one county account, and they were able to save the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

Under the Wood County CodeRED agreement, communities and public agencies can elect to become a sub-user. They can then provide their residents with both emergency and non-emergency messages. All CodeRED messages are based on a geographic location. Therefore, if you are getting a CodeRED message, you know that you are in the forecasted area of concern and you may be impacted by the event.

Wood County residents are strongly encouraged to register for these free emergency notifications. You can also elect to sign up for non-emergency alerts if you choose to do so. All preferences as far as what kind and how you receive these notifications is customizable to you. To register for CodeRED follow this link https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/BFAB7B074BCD

We respect the privacy of our county residents. No one in Wood County can view or access the personal information you put into the system. For any changes you may need to make on your account, you can call CodeRED at 1-866-939-0911, option 2 and they will be more than happy to assist.

For more information on severe weather please visit the Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness site at: https://weathersafety.ohio.gov/ and FEMA’s Ready.gov site at: https://www.ready.gov/