CMAS is the interface to the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) service that wireless phone carriers began rolling out earlier this year, and according to confirmations from FEMA and the National Weather Service, messages were sent to people located in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine when Sandy hit the East Coast.
The WEA alerts, which appear in the form of a 90-character or less SMS message, function as a point-to-multipoint system; like a radio broadcast, the messages are sent to individuals in a target-specific area, whereas text messages aren’t location aware, according to CTIA - The Wireless Association. What this means is that individuals who may be from the East Coast but were not physically in the storm-affected areas when alerts were being sent would not have received the messages.
According to Bristow’s Oct. 31 blog post, different agencies took different approaches to alerting the public given the 90-character constraint. Below are examples of some of the WEA messages sent out during Sandy:
- “Blizzard Warning this area til 6:00 PM EDT Tue. Prepare. Avoid Travel. Check media. –NWS”
- “Go indoors immediately and remain inside. DO NOT DRIVE. Call 9-1-1 for emergencies only.”
- “Flash Flood Warning this area til 3:45 PM EDT. Avoid flood areas. Check local media. –NWS”
Individuals who may not have received the WEA messages during the storm may not have a mobile device that is enabled to receive the alerts. According to the CTIA, there are multiple WEA-compatible devices on the market, however, certain cellphone models are not compatible with receiving the messages, or may need a software upgrade to receive them.
WEA-Compatible Phones by CarrierVerizon AT&T T-Mobile Sprint (PDF) |