1. Home
  2. Update

Disaster alerts can go out by radio and wireless, but humans thwart them

Source(s): SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Communications Inc.
Upload your content

By Wendy Lee

[...]

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday pointed out a flaw in Apple’s iPhones: The phones cannot receive FM radio signals and Pai believes Apple is refusing to activate a chip that would enable the feature. “It is time for Apple to step up to the plate and put the safety of the American people first,” Pai said.

Currently, local officials’ tool for sending out urgent messages to smartphones is the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system. Distinct from text messages and app notifications, the alert system lets officials target warnings to specific geographical areas. The system is also used for Amber Alert missing-child warnings.

While it’s not affected by network congestion caused by a flood of calls or text messages, the system relies on the existing infrastructure of cellular towers, which is vulnerable to storms and physical damage. St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands lost Internet access and phone service this week after a generator powering a cell phone tower was stolen.

In disaster zones and rural areas, radio broadcasts could reach people when cellular networks are weak or missing, officials involved in emergency preparedness say.

[...]

Read the original story here

Explore further

Themes Early warning Data and information management Disaster risk management
Share this

Please note: Content is displayed as last posted by a PreventionWeb community member or editor. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of UNDRR, PreventionWeb, or its sponsors. See our terms of use

Is this page useful?

Yes No
Report an issue on this page

Thank you. If you have 2 minutes, we would benefit from additional feedback (link opens in a new window).