The Emergency Broadcast System

[wesbed]

You know, on the radio, when they stop playing music/talking and play the beeping sound instead? Then, a voice starts and says something like, "This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System."

What is the Emergency Broadcast System? What is being tested? When is the system expected to be used? For what?

I've not known of a greater emergency than that which ocurred in New York City on September 11th. I drove a car from Tucson, Arizona, to Los Angeles, on the day of 9/11/01, to get my Dad from the Los Angeles airport and bring him home. I had the radio playing all way, for 20 hours straight. I don't recall hearing a single thing, that day, in regard to the Emergency Broadcast System.

Was the Emergency Broadcast System used? Did it help with communications? Was it, in the case of 9/11, not needed? Maybe I just didn't know of the use of the Emergency Broadcast system because of my location? Tucson and Los Angeles are not exactly close to New York City.

Edited July 12, 2004 by wesbed

[Quincy]

It was set up in '63 by the Kennedy Administration. Although I believe the primary intent was to provide a way to address the entire nation during an emergency (think Cold War), it was expanded to allow other agencies (National Weather Service, state & local) to use it.

When I lived in tornado country it would do its "beepin'" job a few times each summer. Most cases involving its use relate to weather warnings.

Edited July 12, 2004 by Quincy

[JSngry]

In the 50s, when I was a tot, they had CONELRAD, I believe it was called. You look at the AM radios from the era, and you'll usually see two spots on the dial marked with a triangle inside a circle (the shape of the "Civil Defense" logo). Those were the frequencies to turn to in case of a national emergency disaster.

Yep, two preset frequencies for the entire nation!

Details here: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/conelrad.htm

[JSngry]

http://www.westgeorgia.org/conelrad/

[chris olivarez]

It's now called an EAS and you link up with other stations for information on potential state,local and national emergencies. Every station must have one of these systems operational or face possible FCC action. We have received two visits in recent years from FCC field engineers and both times it was to see if our EAS system was operational and that we were set up to receifve test messages.

[WD45]

There was a bit of chatter in the public radio industry about the lack of its use during 9/11. Like the original post says, if not then, when?

[Joe M]

EAS is regularly used here in California for AMBER Alerts (child abductions) and it has apparently saved several lives in just the past year or so. We just had one on Saturday, in fact.

[Dan Gould]

EAS is regularly used here in California for AMBER Alerts (child abductions) and it has apparently saved several lives in just the past year or so. We just had one on Saturday, in fact.

That's funny-in South Florida the highway information system is used for Amber Alerts. I have no idea if its saved anyone yet or not ...

[chris olivarez]

There was a bit of chatter in the public radio industry about the lack of its use during 9/11. Like the original post says, if not then, when?

In our neck of the woods just getting test messages from the main station can be a chore. God forbid that a real emergency should occur.

[RainyDay]

In recent years, it's been used here to announce severe weather information. Yeah, I know. How severe can the weather get here? Believe it or not, a few years ago, there was a brief tornado watch in Eastern Contra Costa County, which is a few miles from Oakland. But mostly the warnings are about heavy rain and flooding in the nine-country area during the rainy season.