[EAS] "Improving" EAS

[tpt at sevenrangesradio.com]

Clay:
 
I just got done filing 15 "updated" Form One's for yet another stupid test for a system that essentially does nothing.   I have another 6 I need to get to.
 
First, the state emergency committee in this state is a closed group, resistant to change or input.
 
Second, emergency alerting should be a cooperative venture--not another micro-managed Federal scheme;
 
Third, the government tendency is always towards "mission creep." Compiling, filing and generating excuses for more reports becomes somebody's job.  So they generate more work for everyone else to justify their continued existence.  Remember a couple of years ago when a tornado hit the D.C. area? NWS missed it, but a couple of meteorologists in the local TV stations--watching the station's radar--got the alert out.
 
Did they get a pat on the back from the FCC?  No, they were warned because they didn't get close captioning up for the hearing impaired.
 
Fourth, As noted, the definition of "false" is crucial here.  It is one thing to supply information when there is a major incident such as Hawaii.  It is another to require stations to determine what was or wasn't a false alert, whether --for example--the Amber alert was for the wrong car because somebody misread  a note from the 911 center.
 
I am sitting in St. Marys, population 2400, licensed to a county of 8,000.  Two stations run from here, covering covering all or part of 10 mostly rural counties in northern WV and southern Ohio. We monitor two different primary relays, and two NWS stations. We have a staff of 5 here.