New Knox County Emergency Alert System – Info and Link
Click HERE to register to receive CodeRED Knox County Emergency Alerts.
The following story was printed in October 22, 2014, edition of The Edina Sentinel.
Earlier this month the Knox County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), along with the Knox County Emergency Management Director Keith Gudehus, began mailing two-sided red and white cards about the CodeRED emergency notification system to every mailing address in Knox County. Important information is on the card about the new Knox County emergency notification system and how to register to be notified in case of an emergency.
This is a new opportunity for the citizens of Knox County to be prepared for an emergency, whatever emergency that may be, including hazardous material releases or spills, severe weather emergencies, missing children, health related emergencies and so on. The CodeRED notification system has the capability to notify you directly of such an emergency and give you instructions about what you should do.
Over the last few years the LEPC and Emergency Management Office has undergone some serious changes and a group of dedicated local individuals from a wide array of emergency response entities have been looking at and practicing for various catastrophes. During these exercises a huge challenge has been identified. The challenge is: How are we going to notify people this is happening? The answer to that question is: We’re gong to call them directly through the CodeRED emergency notification system.
The CodeRED program is important enough that the LEPC, the Knox County Commission, the Knox County Health Department, the Knox County R-1 School District and the City of Edina have banded together to fund it, to the tune of about $5,000 a year. They’ve done that because it’s needed and it’s important to be able tell you if an emergency is happening and what you need to do to protect yourself and your family.
Signing up for the Code/RED system is easy and can be done online. We’re posting a link to the sign-up page on our website, nemonews.net, because we know it’s important too.
People living in Knox County can register their cell phones and land line phones to their home addresses. Knox County businesses can register their business phones to their business addresses. You can also register your email address and be notified that way. If you come to Knox County to work you can register your cell phone to your work address. It’s important to note that when you register your phone or email address it must be linked with a Knox County address for the system to work properly.
If you don’t use the internet reach out to a family member or friend who does or watch for community events where members of the LEPC will be set up and willing to help people sign up for CodeRED. We will include any such upcoming events here in The Edina Sentinel. Again, a link to the CodeRED sign up page has been posted on our website, nemonews.net.
