Always be on the alert for nasty weather

The grass is starting to grow, and the severe weather is starting to get near us. We had a good rainfall last week, and we could still use a little more. We did not get the severe system that our neighbors to our east did. They had hail up to 2.75 inches and a few tornadoes.

This brings me to the concept that is called cry wolf. That is when a storm is predicted, and then it does not get as bad as it was advertised. An example is a weather forecast calling for 3 inches of rain, and we get no rain. Or a sunny day is forecast, and then thunderstorms pop up all of a sudden. No one has ever said that predicting the weather is a 100% accurate guarantee. That is why I use the phrase Keep an eye on the sky.

There is an event planned for May 21 at the Brookings County Outdoor Adventure Center. They are having their third annual Welcome to Summer event. It will be from 4 to 7 p.m. We are scheduled to have our Emergency Management friend, Tommy the Turtle, there to help spread the word for hazards awareness throughout the year.

When emergencies strike, public safety officials use timely and reliable systems to alert you. This page describes different warning alerts you can get and how to get them.

Wireless Emergency Alerts

Wireless Emergency Alerts are short emergency alerts authorities can send to any WEA-enabled mobile device in a locally targeted area. Alerting authorities who are authorized to send WEAs include state, local, tribal, and territorial public safety officials, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the president of the United States.

• WEAs look like text messages but are designed to get your attention with a unique sound and vibration repeated twice.
• WEAs are not affected by network congestion and will not disrupt texts, calls or in progress data sessions.
• You are not charged for receiving WEAs, and there is no need to subscribe.
• WEAs are sent through FEMAs Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
• Children will also receive alerts on their WEA-enabled mobile devices. Parents and guardians, talk to your children about WEA Alerts and staying safe in an emergency. A fact sheet about WEAs for kids can be found here.

If you are not receiving WEAs here are some tips to troubleshoot your mobile device:

1. Check the settings on your mobile device and review your user manual (you may be able to find this online, too).
• Older phones may not be WEA capable, and some cellphone models require you to enable WEAs.
• Some mobile service providers call these messages Government Alerts, or Emergency Alert Messages.
2. Check with your wireless providerto see if they can resolve the issue.
• All major phone providers and some smaller providers participate in WEA.
• Federal Communications Commission registry of WEA providers.

To provide comments or concerns about WEAs sent in your area contact local officials directly.

Emergency Alert System

The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that allows the president to address the nation within 10 minutes during a national emergency. Other authorized federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial alerting authorities may also use the system to deliver important emergency information such as weather information, imminent threats, AMBER alerts, and local incident information targeted to specific areas.

• The EAS is sentthrough broadcast TV and radio, satellite digital audio services,direct broadcast satellite providers, cable television systems and wireless cable systems.
• The president has sole responsibility for determining when the national-level EAS will be activated. FEMA and the FCC are responsible for national-level tests and exercises.
• The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are unavailable.

NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcast continuous weather information from the nearest National Weather Service office based on your physical location.

• NWR broadcasts official warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day,seven days a week.
• NWR also broadcasts alerts of non-weather emergencies such as national security or public safety threats through the Emergency Alert System.

Integrated Public Alert and Warning System

The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System is FEMAs national system for local alerting. It gives federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial public safety agencies the ability to send WEAs, EAS alerts, weather, and non-weather-related emergency messages simultaneously through NOAA weather radios and alerts through systems like sirens and digital billboards.

• IPAWS empowers local Alerting Authorities to send their own emergency alerts. FEMA does not review, edit, or approve alerts.
• There are no costs to receive or send alerts through IPAWS. Alerting Authorities may incur minimal costs to purchase IPAWS-compatible software.
• IPAWS alerts can be locally targeted to ensure only devices in the affected area receive the alert.

Brookings County does have the ability to use these alerting mechanisms if needed. We also have the ability to send out weather-related texts but you have to go through the Brookings County website to sign up for those. Regardless of what you rely on it is recommended to have a backup just in case something happens to your alerting tool.

In closing, planting season is upon us, and next week I will start discussing farm safety. A tip to hold you over until then: Do not tailgate farm equipment going down the road.

As always, keep an eye on the sky and be safe when outdoors.

Bob the EM.