ﾠ

Pocahontas County residents will have a new warning system in place for the county's next emergency, thanks to the sophisticated calling system, CodeRED.

ﾠ

Office of Emergency Services director Melvin Martin said last week the system is able to call about 2,000 telephone numbers per minute and the software will allow him to tell how many phones were answered by people, how many by answering systems and how many were unanswered. Martin said he would be able to initiate a call from any telephone, record a message and launch the calls using a code.

ﾠ

In the past few years, most emergencies have been weather-related, particularly flooding. Martin will be able to shade in areas on a map to determine what numbers to call, so that business owners in flood-prone areas like Durbin, Marlinton and Seebert who don't live near their businesses can get a call from the internet-based system.

ﾠ

"The key is to make sure [businesses and residences] are spotted in the right place," Martin said. "That's the key to the whole thing."

ﾠ

Residents can do that by going to the Community Enrollment page at https://cne.coderedweb.com and following the prompts. One step will display a map with an arrow showing the location of the telephone number. If it is wrong, residents will be able to manipulate the arrow to the proper location.

ﾠ

"It's not perfect, but in situations like flooding, the weakest point has been being able to get people notified," he said. "This will go a long way in that direction."

ﾠ

The current system won't be totally abandoned until CodeRED is tested and tried.

ﾠ

The first test will be a county-wide "all call," which will be advertised. Martin said he didn't know how the number would show up on caller ID. But that can't happen until residents go online and identify their locations in the system, he said.

ﾠ

ﾠ

The Town of Marlinton is participating in the CodeRED system and could use it for emergencies like a boil water advisory, Martin explained.

ﾠ

Links to the CodeRED website are available on The Pocahontas Times website, www.pocahontastimes.com, the WVMR website, www.alleghenymountainradio.org, the Town of Marlinton website, www.townofmarlinton.com, and the Pocahontas County Commission website, www.pocahontascountycommission.com. Links have been added to the public computers at McClintic Library in Marlinton, as well.

ﾠ

CodeRED has an annual cost of $5,610, which is divided between the county commission and the Marlinton Town Council. The contract will last three years.

ﾠ

ﾠ