The Use of EAS in a Local Warning Area—A Success Story

Public alerting systems have always been a key component in alerting the general public of potential hazards, weather-related or not. The latest is the Emergency Alert System (EAS), adopted by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in 1994, replacing the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) beginning in early 1997. Using new technology, this system allows for automatic broadcasting of National Weather Service (NWS) warnings, and a method for local officials to quickly alert their local warning area of important information. Emergency Management officials in southeast Minnesota, in conjunction with the NWS, use this system extensively with great success.

An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Rochester, MN serves as a "hub" for all of southeast Minnesota to assist relay of severe weather information. The EOC has direct communication, via VHF-high band radios, with the La Crosse and Chanhassen NWS offices, numerous other points-of-contact, and has full EAS encoder and decoder capability. Besides EAS activation directly from the NWS (via NOAA Weather Radio - NWR), officials within the EOC can re-broadcast warnings within their local warning area to provide redundancy and/or follow-up information. Local EAS use has also included hazardous material incidents, mass transportation accidents, and communication outages. In fact, southeast Minnesota, including the Rochester area, was the first media market to test the cable home alert systems that are EAS activated.

As examples, two significant severe weather events have proven how EAS can be used effectively in a local warning area. On June 27, 1998, a squall line moved across southern Minnesota producing wind gusts over 90 mph and causing significant property damage. In addition to warnings from the NWS, local EAS was used to alert thousands of people who were gathered at a downtown Rochester street festival. People were evacuated before the line of storms struck. As a second example, a tornado hit the town of Lewiston, Minnesota on July 8, 1999, producing significant damage through the middle of town. EAS was used by local officials to update the media on the damage aftermath of the storm.