[BC] Usefulness of EAS

[Gary Peterson]

Due to all the constant, unrelenting testing, I
believe a large percentage of the general public
is desensitized to EAS messages.  A few years ago,
while riding with my daughter (in her late 20s), a
duck fart came over the radio station she was
listening to.  She changed stations in an instant.
I asked her why she didn't listen to see what it
was.  She replied that "It's just another one of
those damn tests."

When there is a RMT or a CAE test, the audio
portion seems to drag on and on.  "This is a test
of the (fill in the blank) system, which is
designed to (blah, blah, blah, blah)."  "If this
was a real (fill in the blank), you would have
received (blah, blah, blah, blah)."  The audio
portion is usually longer than a 60 second
commercial.  After this has been heard over a span
of many years, it's no mystery to me why people
begin to ignore this stuff.

We have a rather large operational area.  From
late May, through August, it is pretty much
impossible to watch anything on cable TV.  Each
and every thunderstorm, within 100 mile radius,
triggers a two minute interruption.  Hence, the TV
gets turned off.

We had a big flood here on June 9, 1972 that
killed over 230 people.  Last weekend, there was a
big 40th year memorial service.  Various
dignitaries, from the mayor at the time, to police
chief, fire chief, etc. gave speeches.  One speech
was from the current emergency management
administration.  It was mentioned that this area
has a much better warning system than what existed
in 1972.  Many specific things were mentioned
(sirens, reverse 911, electronic signs &
billboards, etc.) but there was no mention
whatsoever of radio, TV or EAS.  Hmmm.

Gary
Rapid City, SD          

"It is so bad already that when listeners hear the
Duck Farts, they use it as a signal to flip to an
out of market station, or worse yet, the EWTN
signal on XM where they can hear the same
programming as we carry without the Duck Farts.
Kevin Raper"