BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Early weather warnings can save lives.
Many cities across the metro have public notification systems, meant to warn you about oncoming weather events. However, residents in some Jackson County cities complained that their warnings never arrived.
An official with the City of Blue Springs told FOX 4 News there is no doubt: the local notification system for sending out warnings to people concerning severe weather is effective, and it worked during Sunday’s severe storms.
Kim Nakahado is the communications manager with the City of Blue Springs. She demonstrated a system called Code Red for us, which is an online portal that citizens of Blue Springs can use to sign up for highly specific alerts.
“You have to choose which components you’d like notifications for,” Nakahodo said.
Nakahodo says Code Red requires that users specify which alerts they’d like to receive — ranging from thunderstorms to heavy snow.
Code Red then sends a notification to the user, at the specified landline, smart phone or email address
“Some residents felt like they didn’t want notifications of flash flood because where they’re at, that’s not a concern,” Nakahodo said. “But they did want weather warnings.”
Nakahodo says Code Red’s alerts aren’t like warnings sent from the national weather service, which are countywide alerts. Code Red uses a polygon-based warning alignment, focuses on specific addresses as provided by the user.
A similar system called Nixel is used in other local cities such as Lees Summit, according to that city’s assistant fire chief Jim Eden.
City officials in Lees Summit and Blue Springs told FOX 4 their notification systems were fully effective during Sunday’s severe weather. In fact, Kim Nakahodo tells me her city’s public works department has no reports so far concerning damaged buildings in need of safety inspection.
FOX 4 News also spoke with Andy Bailey, the warnings coordinator with the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill. He recommends making sure your cell phone is equipped to receive wireless emergency alerts, which go directly from the weather service to smart phones.
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