Alerts for Your Tacoma Location(s)

Get Emergency Notifications and General Notifications delivered right to your phone and/or email box. No matter where you are, alerts to your phone will tell you if there is an issue near your home, business, school, etc. Click the button below to sign up for the first time and adjust your settings anytime. This service is powered by CodeRED.

Click to Sign Up Your Tacoma Location

Alerts for Where You Are

In addition to signing up to receive messages about Tacoma, we also recommend downloading and logging into the CodeRED app for Android or iPhone. As long as you give the CodeRED app your location permissions, it will alert you to situations if you and your phone are in any city that also uses CodeRED. Most Pierce County cities, including Sumner, Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Orting, Lakewood and University Place, will be using CodeRED as well, giving you access to their emergency info when you’re there without having to sign up in each city. This is a good option for commuters coming through Tacoma.

Get the app for Apple

Get the app for Android

Why is it important to include my address?

This system allows us to send alerts to specific areas affected by an emergency situation. If you don’t include your specific address, you’ll get every alert sent to anywhere in Tacoma, meaning you won’t know precisely when you need to evacuate/react and when you’re okay.

Who should sign up?

Anyone and everyone. It’s free to sign up, and there are no requirements. Examples of who should sign up include but are not limited to

• Residents
• Employees
• Business Owners
• Commuters
• Visitors
• Family/friends not in Tacoma who worry about you

When will Tacoma Alert be used?

We will use the Emergency Notification when your life and safety are at risk. We will reserve this for major incidents, like a lahar, wildfire, flood, earthquake, etc. where you need to know key information such as evacuation or sheltering in place.

Please keep in mind as you register to receive alerts, you have the ability to select the types of messages you wish to receive and your preferred means of communication and can adjust these settings at any time.

Is there a cost to register?

No, registering is free. Simply sign up on our enrollment website and select your preferred means of communication.

How will I know when Tacoma Alert is calling?

Tacoma Alert uses the CodeRED system, which has the caller ID 866-419-5000 for Emergency Notifications and caller ID 855-969-4636 for General Notifications. We suggest that you program these numbers into your cell phone as a “new contact” and use “Tacoma Alert” as the contact name. If you need to replay the message received, you can dial this number and listen to the message again in its entirety.

Can I sign up for other cities?

Of course!  Our neighboring cities are also using this system including Puyallup (active now), Bonney Lake and Orting (coming soon), University Place and Sumner.

Why is Tacoma Alert important to me?

Tacoma Alert is an important tool to help keep you informed and prepared for any emergencies that may occur in our area. Get accurate information quickly. We will send messages to alert you of emergency details, instructions, or precautions that you need in order to make well-informed decisions and remain safe. This system is precise enough to geotarget people within an exact area of impact, so that only those who are affected by an emergency situation are notified in a timely manner.

Does Tacoma Alert already have my telephone number?

Don’t assume your information is in the system, even if you filled out an emergency profile with South Sound 911 (which we recommend doing also). Please make sure you get the messages you want and how you want to receive them by using the button above to register your phone number(s).

Can I register more than one phone number and/or email for my address?

Yes, you can register more than one phone number and/or email address for your location when you register for Tacoma Alert. We highly recommend you register at least one phone number and one email address to ensure that you will receive alerts in the event of a power outage or an incident that may occur late at night when you are generally asleep.

Can I register more than one address on my account?

Yes, you can register more than one Tacoma address on Tacoma Alert and assign the contact info for each address. If you want to sign up in a neighboring city, like Puyallup, Sumner, University Place or Bonney Lake, you have to sign up through their system, not through Tacoma Alert. Even though we all use the CodeRED platform, the systems don’t “read” each other. (Trust us: we asked if this could be possible, many times. The answer remained no.)

What if I’m in Tacoma all the time but don’t actually live or work there?

The system is address-based, so you have two options:

1. Use the app instead (see above). That way, if we have to send an emergency alert to an area where you and your phone are located, you’ll get the message through the app.

2. You can sign up using our address (747 Market Street) or the address where you normally are in Tacoma, like the Tacoma Dome, your church or your favorite coffee shop. Keep in mind, though, you’ll get any emergency alert that affects that area, even in the middle of the night when you’re likely not there. That may be quite disturbing. This is your choice but the app and following us on social media might work better for you.

Also keep in mind:

• We still do not recommend signing up and not including a specific address because this will mean you’ll get every emergency alert we need to send for anywhere in Tacoma. While disturbing, the further concern is you’ll get desensitized to when an alert actually does affect you.
• If you have relatives in Tacoma or routinely check in on someone, you can sign up using their address to know if an emergency is affecting them. This might be a good idea, especially if they’re not tech-savvy or need assistance for mobility.

Does this replace PC Alert?

No, this is in addition to PC Alert. We still encourage you to subscribe to PC Alert for Pierce County Emergency notifications.

Sign up for PC Alerts

I’m visiting Tacoma; should I sign up and how?

Yes, we recommend you sign up as well for at least the app. In the unlikely event we have an emergency during your stay, you are less familiar with the city/area and need urgent information quickly in order to remain safe. If you’d like to fully sign up to receive messages as well, be sure to use the address where you’re staying and remember to unsubscribe when you’re stay is over.