This week, DeKalb County officially launched DeKalbAlert, a free emergency notification system that delivers real-time alerts directly to enrolled residents’ mobile phones. Owned and operated by the DeKalb Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), the new system is designed to ensure every resident, business owner, and visitor in the county can receive critical information the moment it matters.
For DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, signing up is not a suggestion. It’s a request.
“The safety of our residents is my administration’s highest priority,” CEO Cochran-Johnson said. “DeKalbAlert is our direct line to every household in this county during their most vulnerable moments. I am personally asking every resident of DeKalb County to take two minutes today to sign up for this service. Do not wait for an emergency to wish you had registered.”
The fastest way to enroll is by text. Residents who text DEKALBALERT to 67283 from any mobile phone are immediately signed up to receive the county’s most critical, time-sensitive notifications. That includes severe weather warnings such as tornadoes, flash floods, and severe thunderstorms, as well as winter weather, along with evacuation orders, shelter-in-place notifications, AMBER alerts, and major public safety emergencies. These are the alerts that affect life safety countywide, and they arrive within minutes of being issued. No app, no account, and no smartphone are required.
For residents who want more control over what hits their phone, DeKalbAlert also offers an online profile at www.dekalbalert.com. The profile keeps all of the same emergency alerts and adds the day-to-day updates that shape how people move and live in DeKalb, including traffic notifications, major road closures, county service disruptions such as water and sanitation outages, facility closures, and other non-emergency advisories. Residents can add multiple addresses, such as home, work, and a child’s school, choose how they want to be reached through text, voice call, email, or any combination, and turn specific alert categories on or off so only the most relevant information comes through.
“Texting DEKALBALERT to 67283 gets you protected today,” said Dr. CJ Avory, Director of the DeKalb Emergency Management Agency. “Creating a profile lets you fine-tune what shows up on your phone. Both options are valuable. Start with the text, and upgrade to a profile when you’re ready.”
A Critical Note for Code Red Subscribers
DeKalbAlert is the county’s new official emergency notification system, and it fully replaces Code Red, which is no longer in service. That distinction matters. Residents who were previously signed up for Code Red are not automatically enrolled in DeKalbAlert and will not receive any of the county’s emergency notifications until they register through the new system.
This applies to every former Code Red subscriber, no matter how long they were enrolled. The only way to continue receiving real-time alerts about severe weather, public safety incidents, traffic, and service disruptions is to sign up for DeKalbAlert directly, either by text or online.
Sign Up in 2 Minutes
- By text (fastest): Text DEKALBALERT to 67283
- Online (custom profile): Visit www.dekalbalert.com
- Cost: Standard message and data rates may apply.
- Languages: Available in multiple languages
- Smartphone required? No.
Emergencies don’t announce themselves, and the two minutes it takes to text DEKALBALERT to 67283 or build a custom profile at www.dekalbalert.com could be the most important two minutes a resident spends all year for their county, their safety, and their family.
