[EAS] ipawsnonweather question

[Sean Donelan]

Volunteers are great, but what happens when the volunteer has other work 
to do?

ipawsnonweather.alertblogger.com is a great service and twitter feed. I 
appreciate it. But its a volunteer, as available, as long as it lasts, 
effort.

Likewise, warn.pbs.org was a great website showing WEA alerts across the 
country. PBS even included screenshots in its congressional testimony and 
FCC working groups. However, warn.pbs.org is also a volunteer effort and 
stopped working many months ago. Not a criticism of the volunteer. Art 
contributed a lot over the decades. But volunteer efforts don't pay the 
mortgage or support costs.

When the cable goes out at ipawsnonweather or the computer stops working 
at warn.pbs.org; it stops.

The same thing happens with volunteer SECCs. In many states, the SECC 
depends on one person doing yeoman's work to keep the wheels turning.
If that person retires, dies, or wants to do something different; you end 
up with EAS plans from 1997.

Why does so much of the nation's emergency alerting and public warning 
system rely on unfunded volunteers?