EMERGENCY ACTION PLANNING > Blog > Communication > Disaster Communications Part II
Disaster Communications Part II
In part two of this report, you will discover various tools that will allow you to receive immediate information about the present dangers in your area.
One-Way Inbound Information
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/how
How will you receive timely emergency notifications?
There are many tools available for you to received immediate information about pending, current and ongoing threats to your community.
These tools fall into two categories:
- Hardware
- Software Applications
In the hardware department, you will find a few options.
Cell Phone
Television
AM/FM Radio
Radio Scanners
NOAA Weather Radios
Emergency Radios
Computers
One or more of the hardware options are needed to receive information.
Hardware will be discussed more completely in a following part of the Disaster Communications report.
In the software application department, we will review:
AAA: yes, the American Automobile Association.
County Emergency Alert Services:
The Emergency Alert System (EAS):
Emergencyemail.org:
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
AAA American Automobile Association:
This is a member-specific benefit. You must be a AAA member to access this application.
Powered by The Weather Company, an IBM Business, Weather Company Alerts is the most advanced weather alert service available. Utilizing state–of–the–art radar and modeling, its warnings include more specific alerts.
https://aaaliving.acg.aaa.com/home/weather-fx-alert-member-benefit/
If you have AAA you can subscribe to weather alerts. Log in-to your account.
Go to “MY MEMBERSHIP”.
Tap on Manage Weather FX Alerts and follow the instructions.
This is good for up to five locations.
If you do not have this option on your my membership page, contact your local AAA office. They should be able to assist.
If you belong to an alternate auto club, contact them for information on weather services they may offer.
County Emergency Alert Services-:
Some Counties subscribe to a Community Outreach application managed by your County Office of Emergency Management through a company called Everbridge.
You will need to go to your County OEM website to locate this service. If you cannot find it on the website, call their office and ask.
As a test, I asked Uncle Google to find “Alert (and the County Name)”
These were found on the Pinellas, Florida and San Francisco, California OEM websites.
Asking Uncle Google to find “Alert (and the County Name)” for several other random US Counties did produce consistant positive results.
There are 3,141 counties and county-equivalents in the 50 States and the District of Columbia. I cannot confirm or deny that your County Office of Emergency Management is connected with any emergency alert service. You will need to research this yourself.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS):
EAS. Yes, that very annoying loud attention–getting tone on your television
Television and radio are the primary methods of receiving immediate communication with the Emergency Alert System.
Emergencyemail.org
Emergencyemail.org provides emergency notifications directly to an email address you specify.
This is a no–cost subscription service available to the public. Go to: www.emergencymail.org
You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the subscribe link.
You will be taken to the Add State page where you will select your state.
Then you will pick the county you want alerts from.
And you will be taken to a page to fill in your information. Once there it is self-explanatory.
I like this system because you can subscribe to alerts from multiple states and counties.
Good for keeping informed about places other than where you live.
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
During an emergency, alert and warning officials need to provide the public with life-saving information quickly. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), made available through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) infrastructure, are just one of the ways public safety officials can quickly and effectively alert and warn the public about serious emergencies.
WEAs are no more than 90 characters and will include the type and time of the alert, any action you should take, as well as the agency issuing the alert
WEAs are not affected by network congestion and will not disrupt texts, calls, or data sessions that are in progress
Mobile users are not charged for receiving WEAs and there is no need to subscribe
Closing:
The software application services are all available for free, except AAA which is a member benefit.
Search them out, decide what is useful to you and subscribe to them.
In Part III we will delve into the hardware that will keep you connected.
Till next time
“Be Safe”