Global warming, damaged environments, and particular geographical locations make many countries more vulnerable to natural disasters. Therefore, they must develop a mitigation plan to minimize the impact of those hazards. Moreover, they should have a wireless emergency alert system (WEAS).
This emergency alert system is common in rich, well-developed countries. However, it is rarely found in small, developing countries. Consequently, these countries have high risks of suffering from the fatal impacts of natural disasters.
Wireless Emergency Alert System: What is it?
Many countries use conventional methods to alert their people. Examples of these techniques are sirens, loudspeakers, and TV and radio broadcasts. However, in this modern world, these techniques may no longer be effective.
Therefore, those countries must integrate their conventional early warning scheme with the WEAS. What is a wireless emergency alert system? It is a system for disseminating emergency messages to mobile phone users.
They can be in the form of SMS or cell broadcasts. The latter is more advanced. Moreover, cell broadcast alerts offer more advantages than SMS broadcasts.
Governments and government agencies have the authority to send these alerts. In addition, the message is typically short. In the US, for example, the warning text is about 90 characters long.
The warning contains important information, such as the sender, type of disaster, and time and date of the disaster. In some cases, it also guides recipients on how to respond to the hazard.
When authorities disseminate wireless emergency alerts, the recipients’ mobile phones emit a unique sound or ringtone. Therefore, mobile phone users will immediately know that there is an emergency.
When will mobile phone users receive these alerts? They get warnings when a natural disaster, such as a flood, tornado, or tsunami, is about to happen. Sometimes, mobile phone users may receive the messages during a disaster.
Advantages of Using the WEAS
A wireless emergency alert system has excellent features. Consequently, it has many advantages for users. Below are the benefits of using the WEAS.
Free and Accessible
Wireless emergency alerts are free and accessible. Therefore, mobile phone users do not need to subscribe and pay monthly fees to get these alerts. Moreover, authorities do not need credits to send emergency messages.
Well-Targeted
The emergency alert program typically disseminates warnings within a particular radius only. Therefore, authorities can disseminate emergency messages only to people in hazardous areas or in areas impacted by the disaster.
Consequently, the WEAS allows governments and authorities to target their alerts well. The well-targeted alerts are more effective and efficient in warning people within hazardous areas. Moreover, these alerts will not stir panic among people in safe regions.
Minimize the Impact of Disasters
A wireless emergency alert system can minimize the impact of disasters. This system typically disseminates warnings a few seconds or minutes before a hazard hits a region.
Consequently, people in this region have time to evacuate from hazardous areas. They may even have time to bring their valuable belongings when they get out of those places.
Therefore, this system can save lives. This program is also effective in minimizing the loss of belongings. Consequently, people won’t suffer much from financial loss after the disaster.
Resilient
The WEAS, particularly cell broadcast alerts, are extremely resilient. The machine used to disseminate these messages does not require cellular services or an internet connection to work. Therefore, authorities do not need to worry about network jamming when broadcasting warnings.
The cell broadcaster in a WEAS sends alerts via the radio cell of a mobile phone network. Therefore, it can reach all mobile phone users affected by the disaster.
Countries with Excellent WEAS
Many well-developed countries already utilize the WEAS as part of their disaster mitigation system. Some of them started using this system in 2017.
New Zealand was among the first countries to adopt this system. This nation has been using the WEAS since the end of 2017. Since then, New Zealand has periodically conducted alert tests to help citizens become more prepared for various disasters.
The US is also one of the pioneers in integrating WEAS into its public warning system. This country uses the system to disseminate disaster alerts and AMBER alerts. Another country that has an excellent WEAS is Japan. This WEAS in Japan is called the J-Alert system.
Below are other countries utilizing the WEAS.
Canada
The Philippines
Chile
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Saudi Arabia
Taiwan
Italy
Netherlands
European Union
A wireless emergency alert system is an efficient public warning system. Unfortunately, many countries haven’t adopted this system. Those planning to adopt the WEAS must remember to purchase cell broadcasters on smsbroadcaster.com.
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