Roger!
Posted on 09/28/2016 9:30:25 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
https://www.fcc.gov/document/nationwide-emergency-alert-system-test-planned-september-28
September 26, 2016
HQ-16-068
Contact: FEMA News Desk
For Immediate Release
Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test Planned for September 28
FEMA and FCC Issue Reminder and Key Points about Test WASHINGTON – As a reminder, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a mandatory nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, September 28, at 2:20 p.m. EDT.
In light of the upcoming test, the agencies share the following key informational points:
The purpose of the nationwide test is to ensure that EAS remains an effective means of warning the public about emergencies.
Periodic testing of public alert and warning systems helps to assess the operational readiness of alerting infrastructure and identify any needed technological and administrative improvements.
The nationwide test will be administered by FEMA, in cooperation with the FCC and National Weather Service, and with the participation of radio, broadcast TV, cable, satellite, and other service providers (known as “EAS Participants”).
EAS Participants are required to file reports with the FCC after the test, which the agency will analyze to determine how the test performed.
FEMA’s test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages in that the public should receive both audio and on-screen text conveying that this is only a test.
Specific language will differ slightly as it will indicate that, “This is a national test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test.” (emphasis added.)
The test message will be transmitted in both English and Spanish, with EAS Participants deciding which version to use for their communities. The test is intended to last approximately one minute.
How EAS works: Emergency alerts are created by authorized government agencies and sent to local radio and video service providers by local connections or through a central system administered by FEMA. The radio and video service providers then disseminate the emergency alert messages to affected communities. The FCC prescribes technical and procedural rules for communications providers’ participation in this process.
Public safety officials need to be sure that in times of an emergency or disaster, they have reliable methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public when needed. Conducting regional and national testing supports the continued use, training, and improvement of the system.
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) will not be part of the test.
The back-up date for the test is October 5, 2016, in case the September 28 test is cancelled due to widespread severe weather or other significant events.
The test was first officially announced on July 18, 2016. FEMA and the FCC have been coordinating with EAS Participants and other stakeholders in preparation for the test. September is National Preparedness Month. In addition to conducting the nationwide EAS test, FEMA and the FCC encourage individuals to take action to prepare now and throughout the year. While government plays a role, each of us - including individuals, organizations and businesses - has important things we can do to be ready for the unexpected. Take time this month to be better prepared by following these steps:
Make an emergency plan so families know how to reconnect and reunite when an emergency strikes.
Download the FEMA App for disaster resources and to receive weather alerts, safety tips, and reminders (in English and Spanish) so you can have peace of mind and be ready for the unexpected.
Practice your preparedness. In case you are not with your family during an emergency, practice how you will communicate with each other; digitize important documents and plan a safety drill or exercise at your place of work.
Visit Ready.gov. There are easy-to-use tools and resources available for families, organizations and communities for many disasters, to include floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires at Ready.gov. ### Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 TTY: (888) 835-5322 Twitter: @FCC www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
I tried to be a careful steward of my digital assets. A UPS and a Seagate 2 TB NAS running in RAID 0 (mirrored) mode to protect my important assets. Idaho Power had a different idea. Two extended power outages in the last month. First was 1 hour 21 minutes. Wiped out the battery on the upstairs network equipment UPS. I have purchased a replacement. 2nd one went 2 hours 53 minutes last Friday. I tried to properly shutdown the NAS when it was clear the power was going to be down longer than the UPS would support. The NAS would not shutdown. When power returned, I discovered BOTH disks in the mirror were unresponsive. Seagate will honor the 3 year warranty with a full replacement of the disks and enclosure. That leaves me with a substantial "recovery fee" to have their data recovery lab get my data back. Not a happy camper.
Beware citizen, we detect a belligerent tone.
To answer your question: “What event or events would require a nationwide activation of the emergency alert system?”
Note, details about the FEMA FCC Wireless Alert System -
What alerts does WEA deliver?
Alerts from WEA cover only critical emergency situations. Consumers will receive only three types of alerts:
Alerts issued by the President <-—
Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life
Amber Alerts
Participating carriers may allow subscribers to block all but Presidential alerts. <-—
Obey
/s
This is kind of an aside: Get thee a scanner!
I thought it would be silly to keep a scanner for personal use. Then I started taking care of my elderly relatives. Having scanned copies of my Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney docs came in very handy.
Now I scan all of my bills and other important docs. I even scanned my license and registration so that even if I leave my wallet at home, I almost always have my phone. I can pull it up and show it.
Finally, if you take an extra few seconds when you do the scan, you can code any document so they are easily recalled for taxes and what not.
A decent desktop scanner is going to run a little over $100 (at least it did when I got mine.)
Every month I burn a DVD with the images, so I have a running log of all of my important docs in my fireproof gun safe.
It is easy to do. Relative inexpensive. And when you get the hang of it, it makes document recovery so easy its scary.
Just some food for thought.
An EMP is really the least of your worries. (Or the greatest of your worries.)
That situation would be so, so bad that it would defeat a lot of prepping.
That said, in just about every other event, being able to produce a copy of your “paper world” would be beneficial.
For the cost of the scanner and the time spent, it can be a good recovery system in the event of even the least disruptive event such as storm, outage, or temporary evacuation.
While taking care of 9 elders at one time being able to access the important documents was a key factor to keeping stress down. I had better records than most of the physicians caring for them.
Roger!
And you can't do a damn thing about it.
It’s a good thing they warned me it was only a test. I don’t want to have to explain to the County Sheriff why I killed and ate my neighbors. Again.
Thanks for the scanner info——time to call on one of my kids or grandkids for help and the c.$100.00 cost is nothing.
.
Yup,
I don’t consent to this either which goes into affect in TWO days:
U.S. Government to Expand Social Media Surveillance by US Customs and Border Patrol for All traveller’s including American citizen’s returning to the USA.
Note: Mandatory compliance, data collection and federal interagency sharing goes into effect October 01, 2016
Access Now Privacy News:
09/28/2016
U.S. Government Wants to Expand Social Media Surveillance
U.S. Customs and Border Protection wants to add an “optional” field asking people to list their social media accounts to its mandatory border-crossing forms. Thousands of you have already told the agency you think that’s a bad idea. Unfortunately, its proposal just got even worse. Customs and Border Protection has extended the comment window on the proposal, hoping to bolster its case and drown out our voices. But we will not be ignored.
Act now to tell the U.S. government to respect our rights and retract its proposal to collect social media accounts at the border.
We’ve seen the revised form (PDF download), and the “Social Media Identifier” field isn’t even marked as optional — making it mandatory for travelers entering the United States to list their social media accounts.
This kind of broad-strokes data collection violates fundamental privacy rights and hinders freedom of expression — and there’s no proof it would do anything to improve security. Instead, it sets a terrible example for other countries around the world that follow U.S. travel security standards.
To make matters worse, Customs and Border Protection is also pushing a separate proposal dramatically expanding its ability to store and share the social media data it would collect. Under the new system, travelers’ social media records could be shared with law enforcement and other government agencies both in bulk and on a case-by-case basis.
This kind of surveillance makes users at risk.
Incredible that a couple of power failures can do that much damage.
Not so many years ago the only damage might be to the food in the freezer.:-)
.
Gallows humor relief post of the day!
RE: “It’s a good thing they warned me it was only a test. I don’t want to have to explain to the County Sheriff why I killed and ate my neighbors. Again.”
Crazy as it sounds, backing up your nas is recommended by nas manufacturers. Yes, backing up your backup lol. Backup to a HDD that is usually powered down and preferably stored in a safe.
On top of that consumer level off-the-shelf units from Seagate, WD etc, have mediocre reliability records. I’m talking the ones in a plastic case. Good nas (semi-commercial grade) is an expensive game, which still holds possibility of failure just when you need it.
Same can be said for consumer level UPS products. They don’t always filter power spikes before a brownout/blackout, or especially during power restoration.
Prepping everyone for the November 8, 2016 Iranian/North Korean EMP over continental N. America?
State of Emergency declared, elections cancelled, martial law declared and Soetoro ruling by decree? They don’t after all, want the survivors pointing their fingers (and perhaps weapons) at him and ValJar.
Yes...I also do digitize things, altho not to the extent you have (mine are not connected to my smart phone yet). Just on a jump drive.
I can disable all alerts on my smartphone except “Presidential Alerts”. They cannot be disabled in my phone settings.
So when he cancels the election, I’ll definitely hear about it.
Food for thought.
Whew! Rush wasn’t saying anything important anyway.
got it on my TV,
None yet on my phone
Per the latest communication, I'll need to ship the NAS enclosure/drives to Seagate Recovery to get the data back. Cost not stated. The NAS will then be fully replaced.
It's t-storm season. More coming in the days ahead. Will have to plan for more impacts.
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