Hurricane Sandy Could Be First Test for Portsmouth's Reverse 911

During Hurricane Irene, many Portsmouth residents lost electricity after a massive Aquidneck Island power outage and relied on smartphones and other technology to receive emergency updates. 

Many people also criticized town officials for the response during last year's storm. 

Now, more than a year later, a new plan is in place and could be tested by another hurricane heading this way. 

CodeRED, the town's reverse 911 system, was implemented earlier this year as a way to notify residents during emergencies such as hurricanes and winter storms. 

Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to head north towards New England, might be the first major test this new system. It's still too early to tell where the hurricane will hit, however. 

"It's too early to tell," says Portsmouth's Emergency Management Director John King. "We don't know about the track, yet. The best track won't be known until the weekend." 

However, it's still a good idea for residents to make sure their phone number was added to the CodeRED system, according to King. 

While all publicly-listed phone numbers were added to the system, it's a good idea to sign-up again just to make sure. You can choose whether to receive notifications by text message, e-mail or phone. 

"It doesn't hurt to sign up," King says. 

To sign-up for the CodeRED alerts, visit the signup page here.