Wireless Emergency Alrets

4/1/2022 (Permalink)

Wireless Emergency Alerts – Stay Informed of any Potential Weather Threats

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are free notifications delivered to your mobile device as part of a public safety system provided by authorized government-alerting authorities. The alerts are designed to inform you of imminent threats to safety or missing persons alerts in your area (e.g.  AMBER Alerts). 

Government partners include local and state public safety agents, FEMA, the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Weather Service. A WEA can be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harm’s way, without downloading an app or subscribing to a service.  WEAs may be used to share extreme weather warnings, local emergencies requiring evacuation or immediate action, AMBER Alerts, and Presidential Alerts during a national emergency.

This is America’s wireless industry helping to build a Weather-Ready Nation through a nationwide text emergency alert system, called Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), which will warn you when weather threatens.

The great piece of this is that there is no signup required, and Alerts are sent automatically to WEA-capable phones during an emergency. With WEA, alerts may be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harm’s way.

A WEA will look like a text message. The WEA message will typically show the type and time of the alert, any action you should take, and the agency issuing the alert.  The message will be no more than 90 characters.  WEA message will include a special tone and vibration, with both repeated twice.

The National Weather Service will send the following types of messages:

• Tornado and Flash Flood Warnings
• Hurricane, Typhoon, Dust Storm and Extreme Wind Warnings