[EAS] Blue Alerts Are Back

[Sean Donelan]

On Fri, 19 May 2017, Adrienne Abbott wrote:
> Why would anyone turn off the LEW Event Code? Whatever the reason for the
> activation, it can't be good for the public...

Why would they turn the LEW event code on?

In most EAS equipment, the default is "off" for everything except the 
mandatory EAN, RMT, RWT and now NPT.  While most state/local EAS plans 
include a recommended list of state/local EAS event codes; the evidence is 
very few EAS broadcasters carry any optional events as EAS messages.

The optional nature of state/local codes is also the reason local 
emergency managers give for not using the optional EAS codes.

The majority of LEW messages in the last three years have been about road 
closures, mostly due to protesters and weather.  And weird uses of LEW, 
such as Nevada using LEW for Amber Alerts instead of CAE.