.. Sumter County has instituted the CodeRED Emergency Notification System, which is an ultra high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. The system is capable of dialing 50,000 phone numbers per hour and then delivers a recorded message to a live person or an answering machine, making three attempts to connect to any number.  The primary use of CodeRED is to notify residents of an immediate emergency such as severe weather, boil-water notice, missing child or evacuation notices. Also it may also be used to alert a neighborhood to watch for a lost child, an impaired individual who has walked away, or dangerous individuals that may be in the area.  I have never lived in an area where the safety of the residents is the highest priority of the community.  It is very comforting knowing that every possible situation is covered, from quick response time to  health emergencies to now the Emergency Notification System.  The system is only as good as the telephone database supporting it.  If your phone number is not in the database you will not be called, however you have the ability to add your number directly into the system by going to the following website  www.sumtercountysheriff.org/Divisions/emcodered.asp and just follow the prompts.  I think this is timely, as we are  anticipating our first tropical storm of 2013 today.  I do have to say I love the steady rain I’m watching right now. I call this a Florida Snow Day, which I believe I blogged about awhile back. I did in February 2012 to be exact.   Anyway Sean just mentioned this is the first time since we have lived here (10 years) that we could not go out in the morning because it is raining hard.  He has been known to exaggerate a little, but I don’t think it has been that many times, in fact I can’t remember the last time and I think my memory is pretty good.   We normally get bursts of rain and then the sun, but it is New Jersey dreary right now and looks like it will this way for a day or two.  Grab a good book and enjoy the water we are getting and don’t forget to stay safe.