CodeRED emergency notification alerts for Tama County residents are soon to be replaced by a state-wide system – Alert Iowa. Mindy Benson, coordinator of Tama County Emergency Management – E911, told Central Iowa Press in an email response the county-wide 911 Board had approved the switch at its January meeting. She said the change is expected to be implemented by May 25, the expiration date of the current CodeRED contract. The CodeRED system has been in place since 2010. It is provided by a privately-owned service of the Emergency Communications Network LLC based in Ormond Beach, Fla. Alert Iowa is operated under the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management umbrella, a governmental division. As of Feb. 2, a total of 74 Iowa counties had already signed up for Alert Iowa. Of those, 18 counties were operational. Alert Iowa was introduced in October, 2014, Benson told The News-Herald. CodeRED has been billed based upon population at 50 cents per person annually to cities or to the county for rural residents. The City of Tama, the sole holdout in Tama County in adopting CodeRED alerts, finally did so last July. Benson said Alert Iowa will not have a direct charge to cities or the county. Benson said the change represents “exciting news” In information she emailed to all cities in Tama County on Jan. 26. In it she outlined a a vasy array of alerts the new service will offer. (See accompanying charts) Home phones, mobile phones and email can be used to receive the alerts. All land line phones will automatically be registered for alerts with no sign-up required, she wrote. Cell phone users will have to re-register. You will be able to sign up directly online on the Alert Iowa Site or contact Tama County Emergency Management for assistance. Alerts Gain Speed “One thing I’m excited about is the ability to get messages out to our citizens in quick and timely manner. With our current notification vendor it generally takes us 10-20 minutes to get a notification set up and sent out,” Benson said. “Depending on the event that can be too long. With the Alert Iowa system the notification time will be cut down substantially.” “We can give each city access to send out general public safety notifications such as water main breaks or snow emergencies,” Benson wrote. There’s is no minute limit without a cost penalty as incurred with CodeRED. “Another thing that is great with the Alert Iowa system is that we will have Memorandum of Understandings on file with the surrounding counties that are also on the Alert Iowa System, so for an example if there is an event in Marshall County that will or could affect Tama County, the Marshall County can also send the alert into Tama County to give out citizens advanced notice,” Benson said.

WATCH for updates on how to register when the system is operational – ALL LAND LINES WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE REGISTERED- CELL PHONES WILL REQUIRE A NEW SIGN-UP (This will be available when operational for Tama County- www.homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/about_HSEMD/alert_iowa.html ) – Sign up for 18 counties which have already implemented the system is now underway – by clicking at bottom of map on “current” listing line.

In addition to locally generated, these alerts are also part of the Alert Iowa system:

Wireless Emergency Notification System Alerts (WENS): Administrative Message Flood Warning Blizzard Warning Flood Watch Emergency Flood Statement Radiological Hazard Warning Nuclear Power Plant Warning Child Abduction Responder Management Civil Danger Warning Hazardous Materials Warning Severe Thunderstorm Civil Emergency Message High Wind Warning Warning Earthquake Warning High Wind Watch Severe Thunderstorm Watch Evacuation Immediate Law Enforcement Warning Severe Weather Statement Fire Warning Local Area Emergency Shelter in Place Warning Flash Flood Watch Network Message Special Weather Statement Flash Flood Statement Notification Tornado Watch 911 Outage Emergency Blizzard Warning Winter Storm Warning Winter Storm Watch

Integrated Public Alert Warning system (IPAWS): Administrative Message, Hazardous Materials, 911 Telephone Outage, Child Abduction, Emergency Warning, Emergency Civil Danger, Warning High Wind Warning, Nuclear Power Plant Warning, Civil Emergency Message, Law Enforcement Warning, Radiological Hazard Warning, Evacuation Immediate, Local Area Emergency, Shelter in Place Warning