On January 6, at the beginning of Richmond’s water crisis, the city was in the middle of switching how it alerts residents during emergency situations.

The old system, CodeRED, was being phased out, but the new system, Richmond Ready Alerts, had not yet launched. The city was also unable at the time to send alerts to all cell phone users, using the technology that delivers Amber Alerts, severe weather warnings and other crucial information.

During a recent briefing to City Council, the city’s Director of Emergency Communications, Preparedness & Response, Stephen Willoughby, said the city now has that ability.

The system, called IPAWS or Wireless Emergency Access, allows the city to alert all phones in a specific geographic area, without requiring those users to opt in to the system.

“Its a much more robust solution than what we had,” Willoughby said in the meeting.

Going forward, the city will use both methods to deliver information. Residents who opt in to receive Richmond Ready Alerts will receive notifications from the city, as they did last week when severe weather approached.

All residents will receive critical information through the Wireless Emergency Access program, which will be used more sparingly.

The WEA technology was available during Richmond’s second water crisis, in May, but was not used at that time. Willoughby said in the future, he will handle similar situations differently.

"In May that information only went out via Richmond Ready,” he said. “I've since put in place the policy that in future boil water advisories, we will use the WEA option." 

The briefing was part of a presentation about the January 2025 Winter Storm Incident Response Assessment and Improvement Plan, where the City outlined shortcomings and recommendations for future emergency response work.

In terms of public notifications, the report characterized the city’s notification style as “unclear” during the January event.

In late May, CBS 6 reported that about 5,000 residents have signed up to receive the Richmond Ready Alerts, meaning the WEA notification would reach considerably more people.