DeKalb County will soon be able to tell you when the weather takes a turn for the worse.
That is, of course, if you live in the county and enroll in the newly enhanced Code Red emergency alert system.
The DeKalb Emergency Management Agency is rolling out the next level of this high-speed notification system – called Weather Warning – that will let emergency officials to contact residents in the path of key pending weather events to provide critical warning.
“With this enhancement, DeKalb County citizens can receive telephone messages moments after the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm, flood or tornado warning that has a projected path for a certain area,” DeKalb Public Safety Director William “Wiz” Miller said. “This will allow recipients of the alerts more time to prepare and take precautionary measures.”
The targeted nature of the system, Miller said, will reduce false alarms and unnecessary alerts.
Basically, the enhancement calls only registered users in the area projected to be affected by the storm.
Miller pointed to a recent tornado alert outside the county that threatened to skirt DeKalb’s northwestern corner.
“With Code Red, we send out prepopulated messages to all users,” he said. “That’s 240,000 citizens that we notified in that particular storm. Some people didn’t get the notification until after the storm warning had been canceled.”
If the Weather Warning call is missed, an 800 or 866 number is left on call waiting, and users can dial that number to hear the latest weather-related message.
Prior to the upgrades, the system was used to communicate anything from boil warnings, missing child alerts or traffic advisories to police suspect searches or community-wide health hazards.
While the Weather Warning option is only able to make automated phone calls, other Code Red alerts can send emails, text messages or make calls to home or cell phones.
But to use any of the free services, DeKalb residents and businesses must be signed up. And current Code Red users must register to use Weather Warning.
To register, go to the county website (www.co.dekalb.ga.us) and click on "Code Red" under "Emergency Alerts."
The site will provide the option of adding Weather Warning and allow you to choose alerts about tornado, flash flood or severe thunderstorm warnings -- or all of the choices.
Those without Internet access who want to register can call 770-270-0413 Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m..
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