The FCC approved a waiver of its Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules for Routt County, CO, to enable a joint WEA/EAS test tomorrow, October 24. The Routt County Emergency Operations/Emergency Communications Center plans to originate an end-to-end WEA and live EAS test at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time.
Routt County officials want to conduct the test to ensure county emergency officials understand how alerts would perform in the county’s mountainous area, and to help the public become more familiar with WEA alerts. Routt County is also in the midst of the wildfire season that has already required it to evacuate some of its residents.
The City of Steamboat Springs, which hosts tourists year-round, is in Routt County. Many of them would not have subscribed to the local alert warning system. County officials believe the FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) would be the most effective way to reach tourists in the event of an emergency. The FCC agreed, and find the circumstances warranted a waiver of its rules. The county needed a waiver because the FCC’s s WEA end-to-end testing rules don’t go into effect until May 2019.
The proposed WEA test message would be: “This is a Routt County test. No action required. Provide feedback to Routt County Website.” The waiver is conditioned on an outreach plan about the tests so the public is not alarmed, and making it clear they may receive multiple test messages.
October 23, 2018
