San Benito County has entered into an agreement along with Santa Cruz County for a CodeRED emergency notification system, according to an announcement from the Hollister Police Department.
The system has the capability of sending thousands of messages to residents, based on geographic location, in a short time, according to the HPD. Authorities also underscore that residents with just cell coverage can sign up for the system online.
According to the statement:
CodeRED is the new Emergency Notification System for the entire counties of San Benito and Santa Cruz. In the event of an emergency or critical community situation, telephonic notifications to affected areas will be made to registered land lines. Examples include: evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices and missing child reports.
CodeRED has the capability of sending thousands of messages in a very short time based on the geographic location of the incident.
If you have a regular phone line in your home (landline), you are already registered in the emergency system. However, many homes do not have a landline and citizens rely on their cell phones or voice over internet protocol (VOIP) phones.
The Hollister Police Department and Santa Cruz Regional 911 would like everyone to register their cell phones and VOIP lines through CodeRED to insure you receive the notifications. There is no fee for the registration and you can register as many phones as you would like.
Alerts will not reach citizens that are not registered in CodeRED. In an emergency, time is very important and the quicker you receive the notification the better the chances of remaining safe.
Persons wishing to register their cell phone or VOIP lines can visit the Hollister Police Website www.hollister.ca.gov and click the icon in the introduction page, visit CodeRED directly at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/218A80E36F49 or visit the Santa Cruz Regional webpage at www.scr911.org .
