[EAS] Lacking Common Sense...

[Rod Zeigler]

Adrienne brings some very good points to the table. I was there during 
the storm, and traveled through D.C. into Maryland the next morning. 
What I came away with was a feeling that no one was prepared to handle 
the situation. People sawing at tree limbs with a steak knife, and 
others with the nozzles of obviously dead gas pumps in their cars, 
banging on the doors of dark gas stations with CLOSED signs hanging in 
the door. Looking at areas that did not have tree damage showed power 
and other above ground lines going through the trees, none of which had 
been trimmed back. Law enforcement stretched to the breaking point 
directing traffic through intersections with no electric signals operating.
Yes, broadcast was working and doing a yeoman's job of getting out 
information, but how many of the citizens had anything to receive that 
information with? How many had something as simple as a saw or axe to 
clear a sidewalk or doorway? Watching local coverage on TV left me with 
the opinion that everyone expected some level of government to make it 
all better for them.
This brings me to one of the things I try to get across to everyone in 
EAS meetings that I am at. We, the broadcasters, can go to extraordinary 
lengths, as we do now, to get emergency messages and information out to 
the public. The one thing we cannot do is make the public act on that 
information. That is why complicated and convoluted alert schemes are 
just an exercise for those that like that sort of thing. Keep it simple. 
Send out the alerts, and then get ready to send out the recovery 
information. Trying to get a good portion of the population motivated to 
take action, even to save their lives, is beyond our abilities as 
broadcasters. Sow the seeds of alert, those that fall on fertile ears 
will succeed, those that don't, won't.
Here in the mid-west, those storms would have been an annoyance and not 
much more. We have the tools, know-how, and neighborly spirit to take 
care of the bulk of the problem ourselves. What I saw in D.C. and 
Maryland showed me that most people in those areas will not survive if a 
really big, wide area, event occurs.

One mans opinion.

-- 
R. V. Zeigler, Dir. of Eng.
Nebraska Rural Radio Assn.
KRVN-KTIC-KNEB
Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/RRNnews