Prepping in Winston-Salem
The Piedmont gets ice storms, tornadoes and the tail end of hurricanes. The 2022 fertilizer plant fire also showed that you may need to leave home on short notice.
- Ice storms
- Severe storms
- Hazmat evacuations
Sign up today
The official Winston-Salem alert and lookup tools. Each takes a few minutes and works even if you do nothing else on this page.
- Smart911 (Winston-Salem)Sign up through Forsyth County
Forsyth County directs city residents to Smart911 for emergency notifications. You can also add a safety profile for 911 dispatchers.
- CodeRED (rest of Forsyth County)Register for CodeRED
If you live in Forsyth County outside city limits, register for the county's CodeRED alerts on the same page.
Links checked October 2026. Wireless Emergency Alerts reach most phones automatically; these add local detail.
What can go wrong in Winston-Salem
- Ice storms
- Freezing rain brings down limbs and power lines across the Piedmont, often for days in the cold.
- Tornadoes and severe storms
- Spring storms and tropical remnants can produce tornadoes and damaging wind.
- Inland hurricanes
- Helene in 2024 devastated the North Carolina mountains to the west and brought wind, rain and outages to the Triad.
- Industrial fires
- In 2022, a fire at a fertilizer plant led officials to ask thousands of nearby residents to evacuate over explosion risk.
- Summer heat
- Hot, humid stretches make outages hard on older residents.
What that means for your plan
Have a go-bag ready even though you'll usually shelter at home. Hazardous-material incidents can come with a request to leave within the hour, and you'll want meds, documents, chargers and pet supplies in one place.
For ice storms, plan to keep people warm, not the whole house: one closed-off room, cold-rated sleeping bags and wool layers. Never use a grill or outdoor heater indoors.
If you're on a well or use medical equipment, power is your priority. A power station or a safely run generator can keep the essentials going through a multi-day outage.
Do these first, in this order
- Smart911 and a NOAA weather radio
Alerts that reach you at night and when cell networks struggle.
Radios and communication guide - A packed go-bag
For the rare short-notice evacuation.
Go-bags and evacuation guide - Warmth without power
The ice storm basics.
Lighting and staying warm guide - Power station
Phones, lights and medical devices through an outage.
Power stations and generators guide - Two weeks of water
Outages can stop well pumps and strain water systems.
Water storage and filters guide - N95 masks
Smoke from fires, industrial or wild.
Go-bags and evacuation guide
Questions
How do I get emergency alerts in Winston-Salem?
Forsyth County directs Winston-Salem residents to Smart911 for emergency notifications. People in the county outside city limits can register for CodeRED. Both are linked from Forsyth County's emergency services site.
What should I do if I'm asked to evacuate for a chemical or industrial fire?
Leave promptly with your go-bag, close windows and turn off HVAC as you go, follow the routes officials give, and stay away until they say it's safe to return.
How ready is your Winston-Salem home?
The quiz weights every item for suburbs risks and shows your top gaps. About 3 minutes, no sign-up.