On March 7, at 9 a.m,. Todd County Emergency Management will be doing an All Call to the citizens and businesses of Todd County with CodeRED. 

“You don’t need to call the sheriff’s office or dispatch. This is a test we’re running,” said Todd County Emergency Director Michael Wisniewski.

This message will be about the newly added Weather Warning Alert. In order to get these alerts you must sign up for it, even if you did this once before.

“People have to go back in and sign up for them so they can receive a phone call or a text alert or emails,” said Wisniewski.

Wisniewski explained the information sent out from the National Weather Service to the CodeRED system is faster than weather radios. 

Todd County has had CodeRED since 2016. Depending on the alert, it could be issued countywide or just the northern or southern part of the county.

With the CodeRED people will get more information than just the siren going off. He added that the weather siren is meant for people outside to be notified.  The siren is meant to notify people to go inside and look for the information on TV, radio or online. 

The CodeRED could be used for life threatening situations, missing person, severe weather, and extended power outages.

“We sent out one after the power outage for the water tower to conserve water because the water tower wasn’t back on,” said Wisniewski.

The message that will be sent is as follows: This is the Todd County Emergency Management with an important message for all residents and businesses in Todd County.  We have recently upgraded our CodeRED Community Notification System to include CodeRED Weather Warning, an automatic severe weather notification service, to alert citizens in the path of severe thunderstorms, flash floods and tornadoes.

  Unlike community notification, citizens must register to receive these warnings by going to the Todd County website, clicking on the CodeRED logo located at www.co.todd.mn.us and entering their contact information. At sign up you may select which types of warnings you’d like to receive. Entering your information will also update the Community Notification System with your current contact details. There is no charge to register for this service.

“We would really like businesses to sign up for it too, so that they can get these alerts,” said Wisniewski.

  If you know of anyone who did not receive this call who lives in Todd County, please encourage them to visit the Todd County website and enter their information.

Should you not have internet access, please contact a friend or family member who can help you add your contact information. You can also call the Todd County Emergency Management directly at 320-533-4697 for assistance. 

​

Click Here to Continue Reading