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Watauga County Communication, Emergency Services To Test CodeRED Emergency Notification System Nov. 13

Nov. 5, 2014. The Watauga County Department of Communications & Emergency Services will be conducting a county wide test of the CodeRED Emergency Notification System on Nov. 13, 2014.

Testing will begin in the afternoon and will continue until the entire database has been contacted. The purpose is to allow Watauga County Emergency Services personnel the opportunity to test the system in an event of a community or cosunty wide emergency. Recipients should receive an informational message including instructions on how to add additional contact information.

imgres-1Jeff Virginia, the Watauga County Communications & Emergency Services Director, recommends that all individuals and businesses take the time to visit the websites listed below and add contact information to include cellular phones and other non-traditional phones as well as email and text addresses.

If your contact information is incorrect or not in the database you will not receive a call when an emergency message is sent. In particular, businesses and individuals that have an unlisted phone number, changed their phone number recently, use a cellular phone exclusively or have VoIP phones (such as Vonage) as their primary numbers are encouraged to add or update their contact information.

Virginia urges citizens to log onto the Watauga County website at www.wataugacounty.org or Town of Blowing Rock residents who reside in Watauga County visit the Town of Blowing Rock website at www.townofblowingrock.com and follow the CodeRED link on the bottom of the page. All information from the Blowing Rock system is included in the Watauga County system.

Those without internet access may call 828-264-4235, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Required information includes a street address (physical address only, no P.O. boxes) for location purposes and a primary phone number.

Additional phone numbers, email and text addresses may also be entered. Additional information about the CodeRED system is available on the Watauga County website and the Blowing Rock website. Questions should be directed to the Watauga County Fire Marshal/Emergency Management Office at 828-264-4235.