Emergency Preparedness

Tornadoes, floods, blizzards and other natural disasters can affect the City. In addition, major disasters such as train wrecks, plane crashes, explosions and accidental releases of hazardous materials pose a potential threat to safety in Edina. In addition, the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, and the anthrax outbreaks that followed have called increased attention to the critical role of local agencies in homeland security.

The City has an emergency plan to ensure the protection of the public from the effects of these hazards. The purpose of the plan is to ensure the effective, coordinated use of its resources to maximize the protection of life and property, ensure the continuity of government, sustain survivors and repair essential facilities and utilities.

Prompted by increased threats and aided by increased funding from Congress, the Edina Health Department has been making additional plans, learning and teaching new skills and working with other communities to improve local public health preparedness.

Severe Weather Alerts - If you want to be notified of severe weather warnings while inside you can purchase a weather radio or have an app installed on your smart phone. Many weather apps for the smart phone are free.

When the Sirens activate:
• Please DO NOT call 911 and ask why the sirens were activated. The dispatchers are often busy during severe weather and would like to leave the lines open for emergencies. The Edina sirens are not activated by the Edina dispatch center. Hennepin County dispatch center has the primary responsibility for siren activation. The sirens are generally activated by zone (Edina, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, Richfield, Ft. Snelling are in one zone) but in 2012 they plan on activating siren by polygon. Activation by polygon is more area specific and therefore less sirens should be activated.
• Please turn on your radio, TV, computer, or smart phone to see what the emergency is.

CodeRED

The City of Edina has implemented a “reverse 9-1-1” notification system for use during emergencies. The City of Edina has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., of Ormond Beach, Fla., for its "CodeRED" high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives City officials the ability to deliver urgent pre-recorded emergency telephone messages to targeted areas or the entire community at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. Messages could be sent for such disasters as storms, hazardous material spills, illness outbreaks or pandemics, terrorist attacks or other emergencies. When a message is sent, caller IDs will display “866-419-5000.” All messages will begin with “This is a CodeRED message from the City of Edina.” If a phone is not answered, the system will try again, up to three times.

The backbone of the system is the City’s telephone database of properties in the community. To ensure no one is omitted, all individuals and businesses are urged to visit the "CodeRED Residential and Business Data Collection" page and submit their phone numbers to be called in an emergency.

Lt. Mike Nibbe coordinates the City’s Emergency Operations Plan. For more information, call him at 952-826-0477.

Resources

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Edina Siren Map	This is an outdoor warning siren map. The sirens are meant to be heard by people outside. The circles of coverage are approximate and may vary with topography and foliage. There is additional coverage provided by adjacent cities with sirens that overlap Edina. The map is created for general reference purposes only and is not considered a legally recorded map or document.
Evacuation Routes	The southwest area of Edina 494/169 area is going through major construction. This area of the evacuation route is constantly changing and alternates should be considered until construction is complete.
Hennepin County Siren Map	This is an outdoor warning siren map for Hennepin County. The circles of coverage are approximate and may vary with topography and foliage. The map is created for general reference purposes only and is not considered a legally recorded map or document.
Severe Weather Alerts	Hennepin County is planning to transition from zone-based siren activation to polygon-based activation in 2012.
Storm Preparedness	Download information on preparing for storms.