The Town of Kiawah Island said they are aware that a CodeRed alert was not sent to residents prior to last night’s storm. The National Weather Service did not issue a severe thunderstorm warning, and therefore, an alert was not sent.
A severe thunderstorm is categorized as a thunderstorm that produces a tornado, winds of at least 58 mph (50 knots or ~93 km/h), and/or hail at least 1" in diameter. Structural wind damage may imply the occurrence of a severe thunderstorm. A thunderstorm wind equal to or greater than 40 mph (35 knots or ~64 km/h) and/or hail of at least ½" is defined as approaching severe.
CodeRed notifications are sent out when a major disaster is imminent, or a critical incident has just occurred. Residents who are signed up for CodeRed and select to receive weather alerts will receive both weather warning alerts, as well as any alerts initiated by the Town.
The Town does not have the ability to change or edit contact information through the CodeRed Emergency Alert System. If residents are uncertain about whether they are signed up for weather alerts, they can contact the CodeRed Emergency Alert Support Team at crsupport@onsolve.com or 866-939-0911 x1, M-F, 4 a.m.-3 p.m.; or log into their CodeRed account at https://codered.eccouncil.org/