Cyberattack disables Code Red emergency alert system across St Louis region

pST LOUIS Mo First Alert 4 A cyberattack has caused a nationwide outage of the Code Red emergency notification system leaving cities and counties across the St Louis region unable to use the popular system to send tornado warnings and other emergency alerts directly to residents phonesppCode Red has been down since early November according to Mike Thornton Warren County Emergency Management directorppEureka is one of the St Louis area cities that rely on Code Red to alert residents about tornadoes and other emergencies Chief Michael Werges of the Eureka Police Department said about half the citys residents have signed up for the systemppWeve had the code red system for many years here and we utilize it for several different things Werges said Apparently they were the victim of a cyber attackppThe system is primarily used to send tornado and thunderstorm warnings directly to peoples phones The city of Glendale used Code Red this year to notify residents about street closures due to water main breaksppEllissa Peterson who works in Eureka said she hadnt heard about the outage but expressed concern about the loss of the notification systemppIt makes me feel a little less safe so I hope they bring that back Peterson said So were all notified so that were all safer from tornadoes or floodsppPhillis Martinez who lives in Eureka and was aware of the Code Red system said the service is important for residentsppWerges said his city will still be able to get important messages out to the community using social media and emailppIts unfortunate because I definitely think this hurts communication in a lot of communities Werges saidppThornton posted a message on his agencys Facebook page to alert Warren County residents about the nationwide outage He said the county has other ways to notify residents but noted that Code Red has the ability to pinpoint messages to only those in affected areasppIt would send it in a text it would send it in a phone call it would send it in an email Thornton saidppThornton said the company that operates the Code Red system is working on replacing it with a new notification platformppIm very concerned about how people will receive their information Thornton saidppThe company has not responded to requests for comment about when the system will be restored as Code Red or as another serviceppCopyright 2025 KMOV All rights reservedp