CodeRED Alert System in Crenshaw County

CodeRED is a new emergency alert system in Crenshaw County that has the potential to reach every resident of the county and save thousands of lives.

Crenshaw County EMA Director Elliot Jones is announcing the arrival of CodeRED in the county. CodeRED is a mass notification system used to send emergency and non-emergency alerts to the public.

“What we have right now is a weather siren warning system,” Jones says. “We have 26 of those sirens in the county. And during bad weather they only cover about a half mile radius.”

Jones says Crenshaw County has a little more than 600 square miles. The sirens only alert 13 square miles in the county, meaning only 2% of residents are alerted when the sirens activate.

Jones is hoping CodeRED will be able to alert Crenshaw County residents to more than just emergency situations.

“If there’s going to be road closures, if there’s going to be a detour route we can send out,” he says. “In the emergency side of it, if we have missing children we can send those messages out. If we have, bad weather of course, if we have bad car wrecks that shut the road down, we can let the citizens know where they need to go.”

CodeRED can send out alerts over its app or to cell phones, email notifications, alerts to social media, and even a message to your landline. CodeRED will notify users of alerts in whatever area they’re currently in, instead of just alerting to one geographical location.

Jones is excited about the potential of CodeRED in Crenshaw County, but admits he still has a lot of work to do – registering every county resident.

“With any major disaster happening, when you can go from 2% to a potential 100% coverage, with 14,000 people involved that’s a lot of lives.”

Jones is offering help to anyone wishing to sign up for CodeRED. To contact the Crenshaw County EMA’s office, call (334) 335-4538.