NWS now a news service "looking out for you"

[scotman1]

What's sad is that this was the TOP priority on the front page of the NWS website last night. Never mind the 4-5"/hr snow rates over northern Michigan, it's what's in your house that could get cha!

[News Is Broken]

Originally Posted by Hoser, eh?

We're throwing hand grenades to kill houseflies. A regular APB would resolve most of these, but it's hard to make these sorts of rational declarations without someone rebutting based on the emotional "it's for the children" argument.

And for the record, my kids are aged 5, 7, and 9...

Maybe so, but even if just ONE amber alert out of every 10000 of 'em saved a kid's life it's worth it in my book. I don't mind the minor annoyance of hearing an alert that I can't do anything about other than hope they find the kid. I had a kid go missing once - he got dropped off at the wrong bus stop and didn't know where he was and didn't know our phone number by heart yet. Thanks to the scanner in my car, I heard the call go out that he had been found by a concerned citizen who called the PD. I got there right when they did. But for those first few minutes after we called the PD to report he was missing, we had feared the worst. I don't wish that feeling on anyone.

[TX WX guy]

I was enjoying a nice afternoon nap at this time of issuance. I'm very glad my weather radio did not go off.

Did anybody see an official report following this issuance? Did the alert verify? What is the rate of scam alerts verifying? I bet it was just a sherifscamalert.

[Hoser, eh?]

Originally Posted by News Is Broken

Maybe so, but even if just ONE amber alert out of every 10000 of 'em saved a kid's life it's worth it in my book.

So, do you advocate keeping kids locked underground in padded cells, away from the multitude of perils that they might face every day in the real world?

After all, if JUST ONE KID is saved, it's worth it, right?

[News Is Broken]

Originally Posted by Hoser, eh?

So, do you advocate keeping kids locked underground in padded cells, away from the multitude of perils that they might face every day in the real world?

After all, if JUST ONE KID is saved, it's worth it, right?

Yes, this is what I advocate. I also advocate the ritual killing and eating of adorable, tasty puppies. Everyone should do this daily. Multiple times a day, if possible.

Seriously, this is what you got from my post? Are you insane? An amber alert is not the same thing as locking all the kids away in padded cells. It's simply a means to alert the public that there's a kid missing and if you happen to see him/her, please call. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't want to help in that situation then you're an asphalt. Simple as that.

[Hoser, eh?]

Of course not, it's a rhetorical question using reductio ad absurdum, focusing on attacking "anything for a child."

Amber Alerts are unnecessary at face value because there are already communications systems in place that cover this ground. We didn't need to invent a new system to address a media-generated epidemic that never existed. The alerts themselves are rarely for types of high-profile cases highlighted in the media (because those cases themselves are rare), and rarely result in or are responsible for a positive outcome, further reducing the efficiency of the system. Now, you want to piggyback this unnecessary process/mission onto a highly focused and effective dissemination system, creating a hybrid where 99.9999% of the audience is often either unwilling or unable to take any sort of action, thus generating public ill will to the modified system and destroying any confidence the public might have in the quality of the system as it was represented during its original mission

All this so that NWR can broaden its mission and squeeze out some extra government dollars. Great... after all, it's for the children.

[News Is Broken]

Originally Posted by Hoser, eh?

Of course not, it's a rhetorical question using reductio ad absurdum, focusing on attacking "anything for a child."

Amber Alerts are unnecessary at face value because there are already communications systems in place that cover this ground. We didn't need to invent a new system to address a media-generated epidemic that never existed. The alerts themselves are rarely for types of high-profile cases highlighted in the media (because those cases themselves are rare), and rarely result in or are responsible for a positive outcome, further reducing the efficiency of the system. Now, you want to piggyback this unnecessary process/mission onto a highly focused and effective dissemination system, creating a hybrid where 99.9999% of the audience is often either unwilling or unable to take any sort of action, thus generating public ill will to the modified system and destroying any confidence the public might have in the quality of the system as it was represented during its original mission

All this so that NWR can broaden its mission and squeeze out some extra government dollars. Great... after all, it's for the children.

I'll have to get back to you, I'm preparing dinner, and these puppies are squirmy little bastards.

[Hoser, eh?]

Originally Posted by News Is Broken

I'll have to get back to you, I'm preparing dinner, and these puppies are squirmy little bastards.

You must have left them in the smoker all night. Still, have you got any rebuttal that's not based on emotion?

[MOCR]

Originally Posted by Hoser, eh?

Did they tone alert this on NWR? Cripes, that's an even bigger waste than toning Amber Alerts. Are Nigerian scams next? Yeesh!...

Yes they did.

I had to log the receipt of the message in our EAS log at the radio station. Fortunately, our box only relays wx alerts so the CEM died peacefully in the RAM of our relay unit.

And get ready for much worse- DHS is taking charge of EAS very soon...

[TAFKA wacowx]

I am also a parent and am 100% against NWR pushing Amber Alerts. Hoser is correct, 99.999999999% of people will not care, nor will they be able to do anything in response to this. The people that can do something...i.e. emergency personnel, already have this info and ARE doing all they can. Release it on highway signs if you must... disseminate it to the media, but keep them, and a pithy thing such as this bank scam off the AHR! There is more harm than good being done by this: people will turn off their NWRs if they get too many of these. Then, the media will once again report: IT CAME WITHOUT WARNING!

[TX WX guy]

Originally Posted by MOCR

Yes they did.

I had to log the receipt of the message in our EAS log at the radio station. Fortunately, our box only relays wx alerts so the CEM died peacefully in the RAM of our relay unit.

And get ready for much worse- DHS is taking charge of EAS very soon...

Thanks for the info, MOCR...I didn't realize DHS will soon run this. What time of day do we have to run the orange or yellow or red advisory?

[rdale]

What do you mean they will "run" it? I've not heard mention of that (or at least any changes that will result) on the EM / Hazcollect forums.

[MOCR]

EAS-CAP Industry Group Publishes Profile for the Common Alerting Protocol

...On July 30, 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced its intention to adopt an alerting protocol in line with CAP Version 1.1 as the standard for the Integrated Public Alert and Warnings System (IPAWS), during the first quarter of calendar year 2009. IPAWS is a network of alert systems through which FEMA is upgrading the existing Emergency Alert System (EAS).
The EAS-CAP Industry Group was formed as a broad coalition of equipment, software and service providers in response to a July 2007 decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to maintain EAS and have all U.S. EAS participants adopt an ability to receive messages using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) within 180 days after FEMA formally adopts CAP version 1.1 as a standard for EAS...

As I understand from the PubRadio engineering community, CAP will essentially replace the current EAS standard early next year. That means all new EAS endecs to replace the ones we're using now.

CAP represents more ways to screw up what "SAME" misses!

For NexgenEAS, the FCC essentially passed the buck to FEMA (which is under DHS). After it's been defined and refined, FEMA will adopt the CAP protocol, then the FCC will require its implementation within 180 days.

Sure sounds like FEMA (DHS) is "running it" to me...

[rdale]

My fault - I knew about CAP but I didn't consider that a "DHS" project (and I thought you were implying that was a bad thing...) CAP will be a MUCH better communications method than EAS, we're pretty excited about seeing this replace radio station relaying the old-school technology.

[MOCR]

So I called the LBB MIC and he explained how this came about. He told me both Regional and National are "upset" about it, but he defended what they did.

Essentially:
1. The Childress Co. EM guy is one of the better folks they work with, and Childress has seen several tornadic events there the last few years. He made the call that in their small community, a banking scam rose to the level of an emergency. The NWS office values having an EM asset when it has taken so long to cultivate that relationship and get that EM to keep the LBB office apprised of events occurring there.
2. The local NWS office did have a choice in relaying this alert, but given the local EM official's track record and the concern about potentially alienating him should the request be denied, they opted to broadcast it. "He asked us for help and we (the NWS LBB) did".
3. The MIC told me that there have been several times when EM officials wouldn't even call their office when tornadoes were observed in their respective counties. By denying the request, the LBB office runs the risk of forfeiting future requests, and the "cry-wolf" syndrome has always been an issue the NWS (on the local level anyway) wishes to avert if possible. "If we deneid his request this time, would he ask us again when it was more pertinent?"
4. Region was in a tiff over this because of "how the NWS is being portrayed on Blogs and various media outlets " regarding this CEM. As the MIC explained, this time they had a choice and relayed the request because they felt the benefits far outweighed the risks of not relaying it. But soon, the local office will be taken out of the loop and local "alerts" will be issued with the click of a mouse on a drop-down window- they won't have much if any choice to intervene then. The new system removes many of the "checks and balances" (or impediments depending on whom you ask) for the issuance of such alerts. National and Regional better get used to more of "this sort of thing".
5. There has been precedence before, from the Amarillo office no less- they issued a CEM for a hive of "killer bees" not too long ago.
6. While check scams are perhaps a dime a dozen in the larger cities, for the small town of Childress, it was deemed an emergency, and the NWS office wasn't about to question the judgement of the local EM's request for the reasons already mentioned.

What I find curious in all of this was why the local EM thought it better to use NWR/EAS to alert his small community to a check scam rather than local printed media or the one or two radio stations there...

[News Is Broken]

Originally Posted by Hoser, eh?

You must have left them in the smoker all night. Still, have you got any rebuttal that's not based on emotion?

Sorry... you'll have to wait a bit longer. I'm currently recovering from food poisoning. I think I had a bad puppy the other night....