Bartholomew County Emergency Management explains severe weather warning sirens

COLUMBUS, Ind. - Following the recent severe weather and concerns from residents about the sirens, Bartholomew County Emergency Management (BCEM) wants to reiterate the purpose of the warning sirens.

Bartholomew County's tornado sirens are outdoor warning sirens designed to alert individuals who are outdoors that a Tornado Warning has been issued and that they should seek shelter immediately.

Bartholomew County policy is to activate all tornado sirens countywide whenever a Tornado Warning is issued for any portion of the county. Siren activation occurs upon issuance of the warning, regardless of whether a tornado has been confirmed on the ground within the county. The goal is to provide residents with as much time as possible to move to a safe location and take shelter.

Several residents have reported that a few sirens may not have activated properly during last night's event. We appreciate those reports and have technicians inspecting the affected sirens.

BCEM strongly encourages everyone to have multiple ways to receive warnings, especially during nighttime hours. Outdoor warning sirens are not designed to wake people indoors while they are sleeping. Some of those methods include:   

• NOAA Weather Radio
• Local media
• Wireless Emergency Alerts on your mobile device
• CodeRED notifications
• Trusted weather apps

As a reminder, Bartholomew County is currently transitioning from Everbridge to the new CodeRED Emergency Notification System. Issues involving notifications not being received, delayed notifications, or inconsistent delivery were among the factors that led to the decision to move to a different platform.

If you have not already registered for CodeRED, you should do so as soon as possible. Registration is free, easy, and ensures you continue to receive emergency notifications from Bartholomew County.

Everbridge service for Bartholomew County will officially end at the conclusion of August 2026.

Register for CodeRED at https://accountportal.onsolve.net/bartholomewcountyin. After registering, save these numbers to your contacts:   

• 206-536-3695 – CodeRED Voice Alerts
• 36475 – CodeRED Text Alerts

Saving these numbers will help you quickly identify emergency notifications from Bartholomew County and reduce the chance of alerts being mistaken for spam or ignored.

CodeRED weather alerts are geographically targeted based on your registered address and the warning polygons issued by the National Weather Service. There may be times when you hear the outdoor warning sirens activate but do not receive a CodeRED weather notification. For example, Bartholomew County's tornado sirens are activated countywide whenever any portion of the county is placed under a Tornado Warning. However, CodeRED notifications are sent only to addresses located within the warning polygon issued by the National Weather Service.

As a result, residents outside the warning polygon may hear the sirens but may not receive a weather notification because their registered address is not located within the warned area.