[BC] BUSH ORDERS UPDATE OF EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM

[Glen Kippel]

On 6/28/06, Mike McCarthy <Towers at mre.com> wrote:
>
> The cell phone thing is double edged.  If I have a cell phone and am
> traveling, I would want to know about anything going on at home so I could
> alert family which might not have the same alerting capability or to check
> with them on well being.  That would presume I could get through.
>
> That being said, cell zone alerting based on county is probably the most
> efficient/effective way when you are in your home service. I agree system
> wide broad brush strokes are bad when it comes to alerting.  While the NWS
> has not gone to the county division plan within EAS, the warning system at
> the county level is OK in most areas.
>
> --------------------



That may work where you are, but our Local Plan encompasses Riverside and
San Bernardino counties -- an area about the size of Ohio.  To drive across
Riverside County (006065), from Temecula to Blythe at 70 mph takes about 4
hours non-stop.  An alert for Riverside or Temecula has no relevance for us
in Palm Springs, and certainly not for Blythe or Desert Center, so anything
sent with a county FIPS code of 006065 could alert a lot of people who could
care less.  We have yet to implement the "P-codes" (county subcodes), which
would help somewhat.  The good thing is that our local NOAA radio only
covers the local area anyway; Blythe is served by NWS Phoenix and their
transmitter on Black Mountain; Riverside, Hemet and the Inland empire are
covered by the Santiago Peak transmitter.  None of these can be heard in the
other coverage areas.  NWS can route the alert to the appropriate
transmitter.