Notifications & Emergency Alerts

WENS Alerts - Emergency Alerts 

The City of Grimes uses the Wireless Emergency Notification System (WENS) for emergency alerts and snow ordinances. Residents can choose to receive alerts by text message, voice message, or email. Addresses are required to provide geographic-based information or emergency information for specific public safety concerns and weather notifications in your area. These alerts are sent for:

  • Snow ordinance parking bans
  • Watermain breaks & boil orders
  • Local public safety threats
  • Severe weather alerts (from NOAA)
  • Other emergency situations that require immediate notification

Sign Up

Please complete the signup sheet and select which emergency notifications you’d like to receive.


Notify Me - General Updates

Stay in the know about general City of Grimes news and information by subscribing to Notify Me email and text notifications. You can choose to receive email and/or text notifications about the following topics:

  • Council, Board, and Commission Agendas
  • General City news
  • Road closures
  • Parks & Recreation new programming & registration
  • City of Grimes job postings

Sign Up

An account is required to sign up. After you subscribe, you will receive an email from listserv@civicplus.com or a text message asking you to confirm your subscription. If you don’t see the email or have questions, please contact communications@grimesiowa.gov.


Alert Iowa - Polk County Statewide Emergencies & Weather

Polk County and the State of Iowa off a free voice, text, or email alert system called Alert Iowa. 

Some examples of the types of incidents or events where the Polk County/Alert Iowa system may be effective in notifying our citizens include the following: 

  • Environmental and Natural Disasters: Floods, Dangerous Water Conditions, Water Safety Alerts, Dam/Levee Breaks
  • Search and Rescue: Missing Children, Missing Elderly, Missing Disabled, Evacuation Notices, Evacuation Routes
  • Crime: Law Enforcement Activities, Prisoner Escape Warning, Neighborhood Crime Watches
  • Man-Made Disasters: Terrorism Threats, Bomb Threats, Nuclear Hazards, Bio-Terrorism Threats, Chemical Spills, Hazardous Material Emergencies, Gas Leaks, Hostage Situations
  • Public Works: Drinking Water Contamination, Utility Outages, Street Closings, Public Notifications

Sign Up

Learn more and sign up through Polk County's website.