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County officials add Internet-based, targeted telephone warning system
By Lynn Hotaling
Local emergency officials are adding a new service that will help them to telephone warnings to targeted areas of the county.
Provided by Emergency Communications Network of Ormond Beach, Fla., at a cost of $7,500 per year, the Internet-based program, “CodeRED” will allow Jackson County’s Emergency Management Office to simultaneously call all residents of any area that’s facing imminent danger from storms, flooding, fire or hazardous material spills, Emergency Management Coordinator Todd Dillard said Tuesday.
When a threat such as a hazardous material spill occurs, emergency management personnel can go to the computer, draw a circle around the affected area, and then CodeRED will call everyone in that circle to alert them to the danger, he said.
“The first part of the message will be prerecorded to tell people it’s a CodeRED alert,” Dillard said. “Then the sheriff, county manager or I will add the specific details for each situation. For example, if there’s flooding on Caney Fork, we would say that and then advise people to evacuate and give them directions to emergency shelters.”
CodeRED can be used for any kind of threat to the whole county or a particular community, Dillard said.
“It’s a good system,” he said. “I think its going to be really useful in helping us protect the citizens of Jackson County,” Dillard said.
The new automated system is already operational, but it needs more information to work as planned to notify county residents, Dillard said Tuesday. For that reason, county officials are asking everyone to go online and register their telephone number and physical address with the new system.
“CodeRED not only offers faster calling rates and improved message delivery, it also gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own telephone numbers directly to the system’s telephone database,” Dillard said.
Adding names is easy and convenient, he said. County residents are urged to log on to Jackson County’s Web site, www.jacksonnc.org and follow the link to the “CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection” page. Required information, which Dillard emphasized will be strictly confidential, includes first and last name, physical address (no post office boxes), city, state, zip code and primary telephone number. Cell numbers can also be included and the system can call both a home and cell number if they are available, Dillard said.
Those without Internet access may register their information by calling the Emergency Management office at 586-7508, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
According to Dillard, no one should assume their telephone number is already included. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals, he said.
“The system works fine for cell phones, too, but we need to have a street address,” Dillard said.
Those who have recently moved but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number need to change their address in the database, he said.
“This is a geographical-based notification system, which means street addresses are necessary to select which numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation,” Dillard said.
Those will questions may call 586-7508.
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