[EAS] Hawaii - mandatory evacuation - was there EAS triggered?

[Mike McCarthy]

This is a problem everywhere a FIPS code covers more than 400 sq. miles. 
Micro events can no longer be addressed by FIPS code alone. And while
polygons do a better job of defining the area under hazard, efficiently
conveying their boundaries is the challenge which no one has yet created a
means to send in a universally simple manner and avoid over use of a given
FIPS code (AKA message flooding).

Keep in mind when EAS was created and codified using the FIPS strategy, we
didn't have most of the tools we now take as part of the communications
matrix. And unfortunately, there are no officially universally designated
boundaried areas any smaller than a single FIPS short of going to zip
codes.

And in some areas, a single zip code could span across several FIPS codes.

In the end, I agree polygons do the best job at defining the hazard area. 
However, how does one convey describing the area in a manner which John
and Jane Q Public will understand when spoken to aurally?

MM

On Tue, May 8, 2018 2:08 pm, Rich Parker wrote:
> One of the 'issues' is that existing FIPS are woefully inadequate in
> terms of what they cover (