Technology has changed the way we do everything, from travel to business to relaxation. One of the greatest innovations in the past decade is the personal mobile communication device. These handheld devices allow us to stay in touch with family and friends even if they are thousands of miles away.
The official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio initiative (NWR) began in 1994, but relevant local weather alerts were being provided throughout the country long before that. One criticism of weather radios has been that the alerts are not sufficiently tailored to specific point locations but apply to a wide geographic area. This can cause alert fatigue and lead to people ignoring the warnings; even turning off their radio altogether.
Increased use of GPS technology is allowing for warnings to be more targeted in geographic focus. Programs like the Integrated Multimedia Alerting Program (IMAP), offered by Weather Decision Technologies, provides NOAA weather alerts to cell phones. Systems such as this allow people to receive warnings that are more relevant to where they are and does not require them to lug around a weather radio.
Smartphones can also provide emergency alerts like road closures or impending hurricanes to those in danger through local alerting systems, which exist on an ad-hoc basis. In 2006, the federal government mandated the creation of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which utilizes the NWR concept of updating citizens with relevant regional warnings nationwide. This system will integrate several existing technologies such as the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS); NOAA; all hazards weather radio; internet functions; and state, local, territorial, and tribal alert systems. This integration will allow local and state authorities to create their own location-specific alert messages with a much broader recipient base. The first-ever nationwide exercise of the national EAS will be on Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 p.m. eastern standard time and may last up to three and a half minutes.
Other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide different avenues for mass notification. The challenge for emergency managers is to maximize the communication avenues available to them but also keep messages coordinated and consistent.