[EAS] EAS CAP and some thoughts

[Lowell Kiesow]

EAS is most effective when used for warnings in advance of the event actually occurring.  If I felt the earthquake or look out the window and see severe weather, then I don't need EAS to tell me there's a potential hazard.  If the warning is advanced, then the technical systems used to send it will not have been affected by the event yet.  Furthermore, there are many types of hazards that are not "self-announcing" and do not threaten communications systems.  Just because EAS might not work following the big wind storm, should we give up and not have it available for the big hazmat spill?
 
Today's Tsunami was a good example.  Had it been more severe, we could expect it to wipe out power and communications systems in coastal areas.  But, the warnings started going out some six hours before the event, so EAS was effective even if the systems could have died later on.
I'm all for building the best system we can.  If Congress wants to continue deficit spending and fund some kind of ultra hardened warning systems, then I would be happy to take their money and help implement it here in WA.  But we all know the reality of that dream.  I'll shut up now and let the naysayers have this forum so that they can help keep EAS as ineffective as possible.
 
On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 11:26 AM, Barry Mishkind <barry at oldradio.com> wrote:
>At 10:55 AM 3/11/2011, Jim-M1-Radio wrote:
>>My concern is this "change" in adding CAP to the EAS.  The most
>>prominent aspect currently in my mind (and there are others) has to do
>>with the, what I would call, blind reliance on this ubiquitous entity
>>called the Internet.

>       Jim,  This is indeed something that worries
>       many folks. In many of the severe conditions
>       that characterize emergencies, the first thing
>       to go down is power and Internet. Some
>       think a satellite rx will do, but in the middle
>       of a major storm, even if the storm does
>       not "move" the dish, the rain often kills signal.

>       Most of those people who preach things like
>       the Internet or satellite reception are short-sighted,
>       or have the attitude that because they have few
>       severe weather issues, the solutions that work
>       for them are the solutions for all.

>       The reality is that several paths are going to be
>       needed. And then you have to consider how
>       much of the pathway you want private companies
>       to control.

>       Like so much of modern society, simple patches
>       will not solve the problems.

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--
Lowell Kiesow, Chief Engineer
KPLU 88.5, KVIX 89.3, KPLI 90.1
www.kplu.org  www.jazz24.org