[EAS] An Open "Letter" to the National Weather Service - now posted on the EAS Forum

[Ed Czarnecki]

Interestingly, "message flooding" may be happening at several levels.
Consider what the IPAWS folks must be going through, receiving a constant
barrage of NWS alerts, advisories, statements, and needing to filter out
what is actually an EAS message.  We got a slight taste seperately of this
when a certain CAP solution vendor posted the unfiltered mass of NWS
messaging on their CAP feed.  We were not amused.

Downstream from the unfiltered mega-flood, we have the identified issue with
EAS message flooding.  The useable information useful, actionable
information may be lost in the information overload.

There is a difference between public warning/crisis communication and data
reporting.  

The NWS tends to issue so much info, it veers towards data reporting.  This
significantly detracts their contribution in an essential public
warning/crisis communications role.  The data reporting could be a great
tool for software and on-line tools.  But the volume just does not work for
the EAS tool.

On the other hand, many broadcasters respond by narrowing their filters so
stringently that nothing passes.  This also devalues their role in public
warning/crisis communications. 

Edward Czarnecki, Ph.D.
  Senior Director -  Strategy, Development & Regulatory Affairs
100 Housel Ave. | Lyndonville | NY | 14098

www.monroe-electronics.com
www.digitalalertsystems.com

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Richard_Rudman
on the EAS Forum

Greetings:

There is a new posting on EAS_Forum that the Broadcast Warning Working Group
(BWWG) hopes will help solve a serious problem we have identified with some
National Weather Service (NWS) EAS activations.

During recent severe storms in some parts of the country many of us saw what
we can only describe as "message flooding" -- a large number of  EAS events
in a very short period of time -- perceived as excessive and duplicative. We
have even observed some NWS offices that issue EAS events to cancel storm
warnings. The way the NWS local offices are managed there is no national
policy for these and other aspects of NWS EAS messages.

This can, in the opinion of the BWWG, only lead to a growing number of those
subject to Part 11 choosing to opt out of relaying weather EAS events. All
well within the Rules since local state EAS event relay is voluntary. 

Please take a look at the posting, and talk it up. It will take a concerted
effort on the part of local and state committees to work with NWS to come up
with policies for their EAS events we can all live with. We are hoping that
NWS office "management" in Silver Springs, MD, will step in and help. That
would make what needs to be done to solve this a lot easier that working
with all the individual NWS offices across the country.

If the common goal is to get timely and effective life safety weather
warnings to a public at risk, the effort we will all have to put into this
issue will be well worth it.

Regards,

Richard Rudman
Core member, the BWWG

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