There’s a new weapon in the battle against terror and other disasters — and it’s something we all carry with us every single day.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced yesterday the creation of the Commercial Mobile Alert System, which will direct emergency messages to cell phones in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other serious emergency. After nearly 5 years in the making, the new emergency system will send message alerts to cell phones in New York City and Washington, DC by the end of year, with other cities to follow.
Congress originally approved the alert plan in 2006 under the Warning Alert and Response Network Act., which was in response to such disasters as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when cell phone networks were overwhelmed and out of service. The new system will immediately send out a blanket alert to all cell phones within the target cities, thereby alerting citizens of impending danger when they may otherwise be unaware.
Surprisingly, this is not brand new technology. Local and state governments have been using text messages to alert residents to everything from school closings during snow days to local traffic snarls. Now the system will finally be used as intended, with the hopes of avoiding danger and possibly saving lives. But its success in New York City, will be largely based on the city’s plan to install Wi-Fi in underground subway stations. Since many New Yorker’s spend a great deal of time underground while riding subways, the system would be obsolete without the ability to receive a signal underground. New York has ramped up its efforts to get their enormous “city underground” Wi-Fi enabled ASAP.The plan is for there to be at least 3 levels of messages: a critical national alert from the President of the United States; warnings about impending or real time national disasters; and alerts about missing or abducted children. People will be able to opt out of receiving all but the presidential alerts, Genachowski said. And Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate added that the new national system will be selective in what it sends out. “These are really focused on the highest levels of alerts, and those that require urgent action.”
