COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – After an F-3 tornado struck Union Lake and the Village of Union City on March 6, several Branch County officials expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of their emergency notification service through Code Red which has served Branch County since the early 90’s.
Branch County 9-1-1 Director Bob Swick told the County’s 9-1-1 Board last month they were looking to replace the Code Red alert system when their agreement runs out in August after numerous issues developed during the last year.
Those issues with Code Red included a cyber attack last year. Many subscribers were left unprotected when the tornado hit because the old data did not transfer to the new system. Another issue has been the lack of registrations as only about 5,100 persons in Branch County were registered as of March.
With all that in mind, the Branch County Board of Commissioners brought forward a proposed one year contract at a cost of $12,500 with Hyper Reach during their Thursday morning work session.
Swick along with Branch County Emergency Manager Tim Miner and the 911 Advisory Board solicited three vendors. Hyper-Reach, which is based in Canada, currently serves several counties in Michigan including Wayne, Monroe, and Sanilac.
Swick indicated during last month’s 911 Board meeting that anyone who has or will sign up for Code Red would be switched over automatically to the new system once it’s in place.
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