The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a public service announcement about their Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system which sends free informational text messages to WEA-enabled cell phones within range of an imminent and dangerous local situation, severe weather event, or AMBER emergency.
Many new cell phones can receive these messages but older ones probably can’t. It takes special hardware and software. The CTIA website, in the left sidebar, has links to cell phone providers where you can find more information about the capabilities of individual devices.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Android system running on Verizon) that was introduced about 18 months ago and it does not have the capability to receive the WEA alerts. However, Google provides through Google Now, what they call Google Public Alerts, but apparently it only works in areas where local agencies are participating to provide the information. Here is how Google describes the system:
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“What is Google Public Alerts?
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Google Public Alerts is Google’s platform for disseminating emergency messages such as evacuation notices for hurricanes, and everyday alerts such as storm warnings. We aim to show relevant official weather, public safety and earthquake alerts in the U.S., Japan, and Canada when you search on Google Search, Google Maps, and when you activate Google Now on your Android device. We publish content from the following partners:
- US National Weather Service
- US Geological Survey (USGS)
- West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
- AMBER alerts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
- Nixle
- Environment Canada
Google Public Alerts is a project of the Google Crisis Response team, supported byGoogle.org, which uses Google’s strengths in information and technology to build products and advocate for policies that address global challenges. We hope Google Public Alerts provides the public with information it needs to make informed decisions in times of crisis.
While we can’t guarantee that you’ll see every alert when using Google services we’re doing our best to show what’s important when you need it, and hope that Google Public Alerts is a useful additional source of information. We’re working hard to improve what you see and would appreciate your feedback, which you can provide using the “Feedback” links on the alert details pages and onwww.google.org/publicalerts.“
