[EAS] Humans

[Adrienne Abbott]

Bill wrote:
{EAS Rules allow an operational area to be split into nine parts which may
make sense in a square area that has reasonably even distribution of
population.  But there is no useful or practical way to split the San
Francisco Bay Counties operational area into nine even parts.  Even if that
was possible events, especially weather, do not honor any boundary.  Mother
Nature does what she wants.}

There are no rules which say the subdivisions must be nine even parts, or
that all nine parts must be used or that the subdivisions must be square
shapes with an even population distribution. We are working with the Las
Vegas WFO to subdivide Clark County, Nevada, which is bigger than several
eastern states and has space for lots of polygons while few radio station or
TV signals cover the entire county. The final map will have five
subdivisions and none of them will be even or shaped like squares. 

The new subdivisions are based on geographic features which coincidently
create some of the weather conditions which lead to numerous EAS
activations. With the new FIPS codes, stations in Las Vegas will be able to
program their EAS equipment to carry Flash Flood activations for the Las
Vegas valley while eliminating activations for Bunkerville or Roach or other
communities their signal doesn't cover.  

This process won't eliminate the "message flooding" problem but it will cut
down on the overall number of activations stations receive. That may mean
some operators are willing to carry weather activations again.   

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair