Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)
Emergency Alerts will keep you apprised of emergencies in your area - easy, free and a must for individuals, schools, organizations (like CERT!) and businesses... As we start planning toward National Preparedness Month (When you'll AL be ready already so you can help others get prepared, right?) start doing the little things, like signing up for the free apps and assuring your alerts systems are understood and set.
Organized by FEMA, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is the Nation’s alert and warning infrastructure. It provides an effective way to alert and warn the public about emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, and other public alerting systems
from a single interface.
For those with access and functional needs, many messages are TTY/TDD compatible and many devices have accessible accommodations. Make sure you will receive critical information as soon as possible so you can take action to be safe.
Receiving timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. Local police and fire departments, emergency managers, the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and private industry are working together to make sure you can receive alerts and warnings quickly through several different technologies no matter where you are–at home, at school, at work, or in the community.
For those with access and functional needs, many messages are TTY/TDD compatible and many devices have accessible accommodations. Review this fact sheet to make sure you will receive critical information as soon as possible so you can take action to be safe. Be sure to share this information with your family, friends, and colleagues.Remember to keep extra batteries for your mobile phone or radio in a safe place or consider purchasing other back-up power supplies such as a car, solar-powered, or hand crank charger.
Using IPAWS, officials can send messages simultaneously through multiple
pathways, including:
FOR INDIVIDUALS
What can IPAWS do for you?
Receiving timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. FEMA, private industry and other local, state and federal partners are working together to make sure you can receive alerts and warnings quickly through several different technologies no matter where you are.
Organized by FEMA, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is the Nation’s alert and warning infrastructure. It provides an effective way to alert and warn the public about emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, and other public alerting systems from a single interface.
For those with access and functional needs, many messages are TTY/TDD compatible and many devices have accessible accommodations. Make sure you will receive critical information as soon as possible so you can take action to be safe.
Receiving timely information about weather conditions or other emergency events can make all the difference in knowing when to take action to be safe. Local police and fire departments, emergency managers, the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and private industry are working together to make sure you can receive alerts and warnings quickly through several different technologies no matter where you are–at home, at school, at work, or in the community.
For those with access and functional needs, many messages are TTY/TDD compatible and many devices have accessible accommodations. Review this fact sheet to make sure you will receive critical information as soon as possible so you can take action to be safe. Be sure to share this information with your family, friends, and colleagues.Remember to keep extra batteries for your mobile phone or radio in a safe place or consider purchasing other back-up power supplies such as a car, solar-powered, or hand crank charger.
Using IPAWS, officials can send messages simultaneously through multiple
pathways, including:
- EAS: used by alerting authorities to send detailed warnings to broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline communication pathways;
- WEA: Free, 90-character emergency text messages sent by local alerting authorities to equipped mobile devices within range of cell towers broadcasting in the affected area. You do not have to sign up for WEA alerts. To find out if your mobile device is capable of receiving WEA alerts, contact your cellular service provider or visit www.ctia.org/WEA; and
- IPAWS compliant digital road signs, sirens, and other systems.
Organized by FEMA, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is the Nation’s alert and warning infrastructure. It provides an effective way to alert and warn the public about emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, and other public alerting systems from a single interface. IPAWS is used to send notifications for three alert categories— Presidential, AMBER, and Imminent Threat.A special weather radio receiver is required to receive NWR broadcasts. You can buy these receivers at many retail outlets such as electronics stores, department stores, big box stores, or online. Be sure to look for the Public Alert or NWR logo to ensure the radio meets technical requirements. Models identified as SAME, or Specific Area Message Encoding, receivers allow users to select alerts for specific geographic areas. For information on NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, visit www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr
FOR INDIVIDUALS
- Confirm your mobile device can receive Wireless Emergency Alerts.
- Sign up for text and/or email alerts from your local jurisdiction.
- Consider purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards.
- If you do not have a landline, check to see if your jurisdiction has options for VoIP
- and mobile phones to be connected to ETN systems such as Reverse 911©.
- Sign up for listservs and alerts for the workplace, schools, houses of worship, or
- other community organizations you’ll want to hear from in an emergency.
- Download relevant hazard alerts and warnings apps.
- Create a list of all the alert systems available to you, and make sure everyone in the
- household receives the alerts as part of your household communication system.
- Test internal communication systems to ensure all individuals in the organization
- can be contacted.
- Designate individuals to be responsible for distributing alerts from official sources.
- Consider purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards.
- Develop a list of all the alert systems available for your community and your
- organization as a guide for people in the organization.
- Encourage individuals to sign up for alerts and warnings, and assist them with
- finding any needed information.