Beltrami County switches to Everbridge, residents must re-enroll for alerts

Residents who still expect Beltrami County alerts from CodeRED could miss the next tornado warning, evacuation notice or hazardous materials warning unless they re-enroll in Everbridge now. The county says its old system was decommissioned after a vendor-level cyberattack and data breach, and anyone who relied on the previous platform must sign up again to keep receiving emergency messages.

Beltrami County said it transitioned to Everbridge in 2026 after losing access to CodeRED on Nov. 10, 2025. In a Nov. 24, 2025 press release, the county said the compromised data may have included contact groups, phone numbers, addresses, emails, usernames and passwords, and noted it had used CodeRED for 12 years. Alerting authorities also lost access to FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System when CodeRED went down, cutting off a critical tool for reaching the public quickly.

Everbridge is now the county’s main alert platform for situations where public safety officials decide immediate warning is needed. Messages can go by text, phone call, email, the mobile app and TTY/TTD. The county says the text and call features are opt-in, so residents must enroll their own contact information rather than assume they are already covered. People who were previously signed up for CodeRED do not carry over automatically.

The county says residents can register through the Everbridge Portal, using the Community Enrollment page or the QR code on the county Public Safety page. Emergency Management Director Christopher Muller is listed as the contact for help. For Beltrami County households juggling work shifts, school drop-offs and spring travel, the change matters because the wrong assumption about an old alert system could leave them out of the loop when minutes count.

Everbridge also adds automated weather alerts for dangerous conditions, including location-specific warnings from the National Weather Service. That could be especially important as Beltrami County pushes through Severe Weather Awareness Week and updates its Hazard Mitigation Plan. The county says it can still use Wireless Emergency Alerts and the Emergency Alert System through Everbridge, with FEMA’s IPAWS system delivering authenticated warnings to phones, radio and television, and NOAA Weather Radio.

The county’s backup outdoor sirens remain in Bemidji, Lake Bemidji State Park, Kelliher, Waskish at Big Bog State Park and Blackduck. They sound for dangerous weather, including tornado warnings and winds expected to exceed 80 mph, for about three minutes. There is no all-clear siren. Beltrami County Emergency Management operates as part of the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office and works with the Posse, North Country First Responders and the Paul Bunyan Amateur Radio Club when emergencies spread beyond a single alert on a phone screen.