[EAS] NWS Alerts and messaging

[Clay Freinwald]

We need to look back in history a bit - 

Once upon a time.....NWS created NOAA Weather Radio (NWR)
At the time, NWR was much like a Broadcast Station dedicated to running
weather forecasts and Weather Warnings.    EAS came along that the ability
of NWR to carry important, potentially, life saving messages was a   a
natural fit...Therefore it became something that broadcasters wanted to
'plug-in' to their new EAS Boxes.
And life was good for a long time

Then....Along came the word - "Geo-Targeting' ...and suddenly it became
something NWS needed to do and NWR was called upon to deliver the goods.
Now NWS could play with 'polygons' and target citizens in specific areas and
use NWR to deliver the goods.

Meanwhile, broadcasters that had their EAS equipment connected to NWR were
now receiving a great deal more information.   The NWR 'Pipe' was now
flowing fast and in many cases overwhelming the broadcast recipients.   The
similarities of Broadcasting and NWR were becoming a memory.  And the
frustration level was increasing.

The bottom line of all of this is the problem that Dave aptly pointed
out...'Joe Citizen' barely knows where he is...and if he is in motion, the
problem is significantly worse.

A while back we (in WA-State) gave some consideration to a form of
geotargeting using the divisions of FIPS Codes.    The problem was that Joe
Citizen does not know whether he is in the 'South Central or Southeast'
portion of Ajax County...and is even more clueless where the dividing line
is.  We gave up on the idea.

IMHO - Geo-Targeted messages using BROADcasting is barking up the wrong
tree.    The only way I can see this concept work is by using WEA.
Cellular systems know where you are located (even if you don't) and are able
to send messages to specific areas based on this technology.   Then there is
the fact that there are today many more people with Cellphones than there
are those listening or watching a broadcast station.   Not to mention that a
broadcast station has no mechanism for waking you up at 2 AM.

Broadcasting, whether if be AM, FM, TV or NWR would be better off
concentrating on where these systems can effectively provide Public Alert
and Warning Messages.    As was pointed out....Stating there is a storm
moving East of Metropolis is about as good as its going to get.    This is
based on the notion that those that are in this location might have a clue
where they are.

NWS, if they are smart, would go back to where they were before all this
started and use NWR for Warnings only with large area geographical
references....And - work with Cellular carriers providing them with
Geotargeted information.    

My $.02

Clay Freinwald

>...However, when reading of the counties and ...

"Counties" mean little to me, even in North Dakota where I've lived for over
1/2 a century. I know specifically the county I'm in now, the county where
my son lives in WA, and the county where I grew up in OR. Beyond that, I
need a map, and have little interest in digging one out while driving in
various parts of the country. Further, in their zeal to be accurate, even
small towns are often listed, and again, these are of little to no use,
especially to folks driving here and there. 
 
>3. If it were possible to have an alert say "There is a Severe Storm on the
West Side of Houston and moving West" ... as the total audio, would they be
more willing to put them on the air?

This is/could be much more useful, particularly in the situation where
severe weather is moving in/through an area quickly. Even referencing
smaller towns names after referencing their general location to larger
population centers would be good. 
 
>TIA for your thoughts.

Thank you, Barry, for being interested, and asking!

Dave