Wireless Emergency Alerts

Michael  Gerber  NOAA/Na0onal  Weather  Service  

Silver  Spring,  MD    

On  behalf  of  the  NWS  Southeast  and  Caribbean  Regional  Weather  Ready  Na0on  Team  

Overview •  Alphabet soup - CMAS/WEA, IPAWS and iNWS

•  WEA content, statistics, and feedback

•  WEA geotargeting

•  Getting the word out about WEA

•  Becoming an Alert Originator

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CMAS/WEA and IPAWS

CMAS/WEA is a free public mobile alerting service that targets your current location using radio like technology

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IPAWS is a national alerts aggregator run by FEMA that feeds CMAS/WEA and other alerting channels

An experimental SMS text message alerting service for community decision leaders. You get alerts for the areas you’ve subscribed. iNWS is independent of WEA and IPAWS.

iNWS

WEA  

iNWS •  Available to community leaders •  Alerts for user defined areas •  Includes link to graphic and full text •  SMS subject to network congestion •  Still experimental

WEA •  Available to general public •  Alerts for your current location •  No graphics or full text •  Not subject to network congestion •  Cemented in FCC regulations •  Cell broadcast bleed-over can

cause false alarm for some

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iNWS and WEA Serve Different Purposes

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Where to get CMAS/WEA

•  Built-in on newer cell phones –  About 10 to 40 devices per major carrier –  May be called wireless alerts, CMAS, or

government alerts (iPhone)

•  Available on Google Play for some

•  Contact your carrier for questions

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CMAS/WEA  Capable  Devices  As  of  2/6/13  

CTIA Website   Cricket   Sprint   T-Mobile   US Cellular   Verizon  

http://www.ctia.org/wea   1. Blackberry Curve 9350   1. Sanyo Inuendo   1. BlackBerry Curve 9315   1. BlackBerry Curve 9350   1. Apple® iPhone 4S  http://goo.gl/E6dPD   2. Sanyo Vero   2. HTC One S   2. BlackBerry Torch 9850   2. Apple® iPhone 5  

ATT   3. Sanyo Milano   3. Nexus 4   3. LG Freedom   3. BlackBerry Bold™ 9930  1. Samsung Galaxy SII (SGH-i777)   Cellcom   4. HTC EVO 3D   4. Huawei Summit   4. Kyocera DuraPro   4. BlackBerry Curve™ 9310  2. Samsung Captivate Glide(SGH-i927)   1. Motorola Milestone X2   5. Samsung Galaxy SII 4G Touch   5. LG Optimus L9   5. Motorola Electrify 2   5. BlackBerry Curve 9330  3. Motorola Atrix 2 (mb865)   2. LG Converse   6. LG Marque   6. Nokia Lumia 710   6. Motorola Electrify M   6. BlackBerry Torch™ 9850  4. Samsung Galaxy Appeal (SGH-i827)   3. LG Optimus Select   7. Kyocera DuraMax   7. Nokia Lumia 810   7. Samsung Chrono 2   7. Casio GZ One Commando®  5. AT&T Fusion 2 (Huawei U8665)   4. Motorola Milestone 3   8. Kyocera Duracore   8. Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G   8. Samsung Freeform 4   8. Casio GZ One Ravine®  6. Alcatel 510A   5. Samsung Chrono   9. Kyocera Brio   9. Samsung Galaxy S III   9. Samsung Galaxy Axiom   9. DROID Incredible by HTC  7. BlackBerry 9360, 9810, 9860, 9900   6. Samsung Freeform 4   10. Samsung Trender   10. Samsung Galaxy Note II   10. Samsung Galaxy Note II   10. DROID Incredible 4G LTE by HTC  8. Alcatel 871A   7. HTC One V   11. HTC EVO Design 4G   11. Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G   11. Samsung Galaxy S III   11. HTC Rhyme™  

8. iPhone 5   12. Samsung Transform Ultra   12. Samsung t159   http://goo.gl/25Gxe   12. Rezound™ by HTC  http://goo.gl/Qf2DX 9. Motorola Razr Maxx   http://goo.gl/xt3Lv   13. T-Mobile myTouch   13. Thunderbolt™ by HTC  

10. HTC Desire 4G LTE   14. T-Mobile myTouch Q   14. HTC Trophy™  11. Motorola Defy   15. T-Mobile Prism   15. LG Cosmos™ 2  http://goo.gl/BQvoN   16. Windows Phone 8X by HTC   16. LG Enlighten™  

http://goo.gl/QtA7r   17. Lucid™ by LG  18. LG Revere™  19. Revolution by LG  20. Motorola Barrage™  21. Motorola Citrus™  22. Droid 2 by Motorola  23. Droid 2 Global by Motorola  24. Droid 4 4G by Motorola  25. Droid Bionic by Motorola  26. Droid Pro by Motorola  27. Droid Razr by Motorola  28. Droid Razr Maxx by Motorola  29. Droid X by Motorola  30. Droid X2 by Motorola  31. Pantech Hotshot™  32. Pantech Jest™ 2  33. Pantech Marauder™  34. Samsung Brightside™  35. Samsung Convoy™ 2  36. Droid Charge by Samsung  37. Samsung Fascinate™  38. Samsung Galaxy S® III  http://goo.gl/Qgkjd  

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) Alert Categories •  Presidential •  Imminent threat to life and property (e.g.,

severe weather, HazMat, earthquake) •  AMBER Alert/child abduction Opt-out/in differences between cell phones •  Many droid phones break out imminent threats

into two categories- Extreme and Severe •  Can opt out of Severe and still get Extreme

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Extreme Severe Tornado Warning Extreme Wind Warning Tsunami Warning* Hurricane/Typhoon Warnings

Flash Flood Warning Dust Storm Warning Blizzard Warning Ice Storm Warning

*Tsunami  Warnings  coming  to  WEA  later  in  2013  

WEA  Messages  Originated  by  NWS  

Warning Type CMAS Message

Tsunami Warning Tsunami danger on the coast. Go to high ground or move inland. Check local media. –NWS

Tornado Warning Tornado Warning in this area til hh:mm tzT. Take shelter now. Check local media. –NWS

Extreme Wind Warning Extreme Wind Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Take shelter. –NWS

Flash Flood Warning Flash Flood Warning this area til hh:mm tzT. Avoid flooded areas. Check local media. -NWS

Hurricane Warning Hurricane Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Check local media and authorities. -NWS

Typhoon Warning Typhoon Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Check local media and authorities. -NWS

Blizzard Warning Blizzard Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Prepare. Avoid Travel. Check media. -NWS

Ice Storm Warning Ice Storm Warning this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Prepare. Avoid Travel. Check media. -NWS

Dust Storm Warning Dust Storm Warning in this area til hh:mm tzT ddd. Avoid travel. Check local media. -NWS

Legend tzT = timezone ddd= three letter abbreviation for day of the week

*When new alert or correction issued or time/area extended*

Quick Facts about WEA •  Purpose to notify (i.e., a bell ringer), recipient should seek details from traditional sources

•  Is a free opt-out service

•  Uses cell broadcast technology –  Merely a radio broadcast, so the service doesn’t track you –  Alerts not subject to network congestion as with traditional text messaging

•  Major carriers are committed to producing WEA capable phones

•  If you travel into an alert area after the alert was originally sent, you should still receive it

•  Each WEA is only displayed once, so you don't receive duplicates

•  WEA has a distinct vibration cadence and audio tone

•  Alerts do not interrupt when you are in a voice or data session on the device

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NWS Warnings Targeting WEA

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100

200

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Flash  FloodTornadoDust  StormBlizzardIce  StormHurricane

Wet monsoonin southwest

Monsoonends

Half Aug TORf rom Isaac Ov er half Dec

TOR on Xmas 143 TORJan 29-30

WEA During Sandy/Superstorm

NWS • 4 Flash Flood Warnings

• 13 Blizzard Warnings

• No Hurricane Warnings –  High Wind Warnings issued, but don’t currently trigger WEA –  Expect Service Assessment to being conducted (common when big storm)

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NYC OEM • “MANDATORY EVACUATION Zone A, Rockaways, Hamilton Bch, City Is. NYC.gov or 311 for details”

• “Emergency Alert in this area until 8:00 AM GMT Take Shelter Now NYC_OEM”

• “Go indoors immediately and remain inside. DO NOT DRIVE. Call 9-1-1 for emergencies only.”

WEA Feedback Successes •  WEA messages received within seconds of warning issuance •  Generally favorable feedback in big cities along east coast •  Elmira, NY (July 26) - Tornado with 10 mile path, 2000 structures damaged,

people sheltered in response to WEA, no major injuries •  Orlando, FL (Dec) - Tornado hit 60+ mobile homes, only 2 injured •  Indiana (June 29 Derecho) - WEA alerted people of tornadoes in Indiana when

NWR was down

Opportunities for improvement •  Bleed-over in rural areas where cell tower may broadcast to larger area •  Pack more information into the 90 character message

Jury is still out on some warning types over WEA •  Blizzard and ice storm •  Flash Flood

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Note: Map is not drawn to scale and is for illustrative purposes only. Red polygon represents an alert issued at the sub-county level. 1  

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Carrier  TargeDng  of  the  WEA  Broadcast  

•  FCC reg says carriers can broadcast to county (towers 1-6), even if alert only at sub-county level

•  As of 2/7/13, all major carriers target sub-county (a good thing) when sub-county alerts are issued -  Some carriers broadcast from cell towers within sub-county alert area (towers 2 and 3) -  Some also broadcast where signal overlaps sub-county alert area (adds towers 1 and 4)

Getting the Word Out

•  Set realistic expectations – WEA Is a bell ringer, not a replacement for traditional warning systems •  Create one-page web/social media/handout preparemetrokc.org/WirelessEmergencyAlertFlier.pdf

•  Media interviews, school and government officials, community events, PSAs, etc.

•  CTIA links to WEA information for each major carrier at ctia.org/wea

•  NWS FAQ at weather.gov/wirelessalerts

•  Cell users should contact their carrier regarding WEA capability, to report issues, or seek assistance

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Becoming an Alert Originator

http://www.fema.gov/ipaws

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Takeaways •  WEA/CMAS is a bell ringer and doesn’t replace other alerting systems

•  Many carriers rolled out and many phones WEA/CMAS capable

•  Geotarget your alerts using polygons rather than FIPS only

•  Get the word out about WEA/CMAS

•  Apply with FEMA IPAWS to become an alert originator •  CMAS can be found in your phones Apps if your phone has it.

It may be called CMAS, wireless alerts, or government alerts (iPhone) •  You can check with your carrier to see if your phone has or is CMAS

capable •  Droid and I-phone App Stores have CMAS/WEA or FEMA/DHS type

alert apps for several carriers that can be downloaded

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Questions

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mike.gerber@noaa.gov steven.naglic@noaa.gov

mark.lucero@fema.dhs.gov