[EAS] Can this be true?

[Rich Parker]

To be fair, it isn't really an 'either/or' - I have systems at our
stations that can 1) send an email 2) send a text message 3) make a
phone call in the case of an emergency or out of tolerance condition -
in particular, the silence sensors also send messages (email and text)
when audio is restored.

It isn't such a stretch to imagine that emergency alerting systems
could be tied to a specific social media account
(twitter/facebook/etc.)  And, at least for Twitter, I know that you
can get an account 'verified' that puts a 'blue badge' on the tweet so
folks can have a reasonable expectation that it came from the 'real'
account.

But it can not, nor should it be, the 'only' way - here in Alaska, and
I'm sure in many other places, people can get radio, but don't have
Internet or cell phone access. So, the idea covering 'all' of the
bases isn't really such a bad idea - but it has to be unified and
consistent.

I can't tell you how weird it was yesterday to get a WEA tsunami alert
on my cell phone at 00:36 and then the first EAS alert (from NWS as it
turned out) came at 01:02. There are too many systems covering
disparate 'alerts' that would benefit by being far more integrated.

As an aside, I'm sure we'll read/hear more about it - but EVERY alert
regarding the TSW came from NWS, which we forwarded immediately on all
of our CoastAlaska stations (all but one of which has recently taken
over LP-1 duties from a 'commercial' entity, that couldn't even get it
together to send RWT's or forward RMT's reliably, and the remaining
station is simply waiting for some equipment from the state to take
over as LP-1 in their community). But the striking thing about this is
that, while the WEA went out (which I have been told 'has' to
originate from IPAWS, but I could be wrong about that), no other
system 'worked' other than NWS. Not EMNet, nothing (beyond the WEA),
from IPAWS/CAP, nothing from any other state or federal system. Yes,
there are folks 'digging into this' as we speak.

But I find it 'interesting' that the two entities who WERE able to
perform successfully are also ones who are constantly struggling with
shortfalls in funding and resources - Public Radio and National
Weather Service - and the public radio stations had rolling coverage
most of the night, until the warning was lifted (after the 6" 'crest'
of the tsunami wave rolled up on the beaches in Kodiak - yes, you read
that right, 6 INCHES).

It's almost as if the people working in those cash strapped
organizations have this deep sense of mission ..... ;)

-rp

On Wed, Jan 24, 2018 at 8:51 AM, Bill Ruck <ruck at lns.com> wrote:
> I think our problem is that we are no longer 20-ish years old.
>
> Those of us with grey hair (if we still have any left) simply do not think
> like "Kids these days."  One needs to recalibrate expectations accordingly.
>
> I chose to not use social media.  But I am also not 20 years old.
>
> Bill Ruck
> Curmudgeon
> San Francisco
>
> At 03:12 PM 1/23/2018, you wrote:
>>
>> The suggestion that a Tweet would have been the appropriate way to recover
>> from a false alarm is, itself... alarming.
>>
>> I read the abstract of an academic paper this week that opened with the
>> claim that, "Social media have become the tool of choice for public
>> alerting."  That of course, begs the question of "whose choice?"
>>
>> Art
>
> __________________________________________________________
> The EAS Forum Discussion List is hosted by the BWWG (Broadcast Warning
> Working Group). http://eas.radiolists.net
> Please invite your friends to join our Forum! The sign up is at:
> https://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/eas
> ___________________________________________________________
>