PROCEDURES:
1. Use this message to update or correct a previous warning, cancel a warning before its scheduled expiration time, or provide pre-event or post-event information.
2. Complete the script. All blanks must be filled out. Limit message to 2 minutes max.
3. Call KUHF at xxx-xxx-xxxx (Newsroom) or xxx-xxx-xxxx (Studio) or KTRH at xxx-xxx-xxxx (Newsroom) or xxx-xxx-xxxx (Studio) to record the completed script.
4. If phone communication is unavailable, use the EAS/PIES Talk Group on the TXWARN Radio to request KUHF or KTRH to activate EAS.
5. E-mail the completed script to the National Weather Service at: [email protected] then call the NWS Duty Officer at 1-800-xxx-xxxx to confirm receipt.
ORIGINATING AGENCY: ______________________________________________________
CONTACT PERSON: ___________________________________________________________
PHONE NUMBER: __________________________ OR: ______________________________
The ____(Name of Originating Agency)______ reports that the _____(Event Code)_____ in
effect for a portion of _____(county)_____ has been:
UPDATED as of ____(time)____ a.m./p.m. to add the following information:
CANCELLED as of ___(time)_____ a.m./p.m. because the _____(type of incident)_____
located at _____(name and/or street location)_____ in _____(city or county)_____ is now under control and no longer poses any threat to the area.
The earlier recommendation to SHELTER IN PLACE has been cancelled. Instead, persons who sheltered-in-place should now open all doors and windows, and turn on their air conditioning or heating systems in order to air out the building before returning inside and resuming normal activities.
The earlier recommendation to EVACUATE the area has been cancelled. Instead, persons who evacuated the area can now safely return to the area and resume normal activities. Evacuees should be prepared to show proper identification to local law enforcement to gain admission to the area.
(If needed, add any other pre-event or post-event information or special instructions here.)
For more information, call _____(Agency’s public telephone)____ or visit our website at:
_____(Website Address where more information is available)_____
APPENDIX D: INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT & WARNING SYSTEM (IPAWS)
FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is an internet-based capability that Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local alerting authorities can use to issue critical public alerts and warnings simultaneously from one platform to multiple devices, reaching as many people as possible to save lives and protect property. However, IPAWS is not mandatory and does not replace existing methods of alerting (such as EAS), but instead complements existing systems and offers new capabilities.
IPAWS messages are formatted using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) which contains standardized fields that facilitate inoperability between computers, wireless and mobile devices and can include multimedia such as streaming audio or video.
Since June 2012, FCC rules have required EAS Participants to be able to receive EAS alerts sent via the Internet from FEMA’s IPAWS-OPEN, a secure, open platform that serves as an Alert Aggregator or gateway for approved alerting authorities. Once the broadcaster or cable system’s EAS encoder/decoder is connected to the Internet, EAS alerts from IPAWS come into the encoder/decoder just like any other EAS alert disseminated by an LP-1 or LP-2 station or NWS.
Alerting authorities have free access to IPAWS; there is no cost to send a message using IPAWS.
However, each alerting authority must purchase its own IPAWS-OPEN compatible software from a private sector developer whose software has been successfully tested and approved by FEMA. The private sector developer may also charge for training and software support.
FEMA’s IPAWS Program Management Office (PMO) has developed a four-step process for alerting authorities to apply for authorization to use IPAWS.
Step #1 – Select IPAWS-OPEN compatible software
Step #2 – Apply for a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with FEMA
Step #3 – Apply for Public Alerting Authority permissions
Step #4 – Complete IPAWS web-based training (IS-247a)
Details about each step (and a list of IPAWS-OPEN developers) are available in the “How to Sign Up for IPAWS” document available online at: http://www.fema.gov/how-sign-ipaws
Before purchasing any IPAWS-OPEN software or submitting an MOA to FEMA, alerting
authorities within the Houston Local Operating Area should contact the Houston Area LECC and Texas SECC to confirm that the alerting authority meets the following requirements:
1. The alerting authority must be a Local Authorized Official as defined in Section IV.A
2. To prevent IPAWS duplication or redundancy of EAS messages for the same event affecting multiple jurisdictions, local or city alerting authorities must coordinate EAS message contents (or have Standard Operating Procedures in place supported by a Memorandum of Understanding) with the Office of Emergency Management of local affected jurisdictions or alerting authority prior to dissemination by IPAWS.
3. The IPAWS-OPEN compatible software selected by the alerting authority should utilize templates in order to quickly produce EAS Activation and Administrative Messages with the contents defined in Sections C-1 and C-2 and be able to send EAS and WEA
messages to geo-targeted affected areas within a specific county.
4. The application for IPAWS Public Alerting Authority must be reviewed and approved by the Houston Area LECC Chair, the Texas SECC Chair, and the FEMA-designated state reviewer for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Division of Emergency
Management (DPS/DEM) to verify the EAS Event Codes and Location Codes that the alerting authority is authorized to issue, and to ensure consistency with local and state EAS plans
5. The alerting authority’s personnel who are authorized to send IPAWS messages must complete IS-247a training provided by FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, as well as Local/State EAS and AMBER Plan training provided by the Houston LECC and/or Texas SECC.
6. Law enforcement agency personnel who are authorized to participate in the Houston Regional AMBER Plan must complete training provided by the Texas Center for the Missing (TCM) on how to submit AMBER Alerts, Updates, and Cancellations.
For FEMA specific info about IPAWS, contact the IPAWS Program Management Office by email to: [email protected]
For State of Texas specific info about IPAWS, contact State IPAWS Coordinator Gisela Ryan-Bunger at xxx-xxx-xxxx or e-mail to: [email protected] or Kevin Lemon at xxx-xxx-xxxx or e-mail to: [email protected]
Since April 2012, the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system can be activated through IPAWS to send 90-character, text-like messages with a unique audio signal and vibration cadence to WEA-capable wireless and mobile devices. WEA Alerts include Presidential Alerts, Imminent Threat Alerts (issued by the National Weather Service and other FEMA-approved alerting authorities), and AMBER Alerts (issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children only when suspect vehicle information is available). WEA messages are only sent once to prevent public desensitization.
All WEA-capable wireless devices are automatically “opted in”. Users are not charged for receiving these text-like alerts. Alerting authorities can send WEA messages even when cellular networks are overloaded and can no longer support person-to-person calls, texts or email.
Currently, EAS is activated for an entire county, but WEA can be activated for only those cell phones located inside the cell phone tower coverage of a geo-targeted alert polygon, regardless of city or county boundaries.
IPAWS will allow federal, tribal, state, and local alerting authorities to simultaneously activate both EAS, WEA, and other tools (such as social media, desktop alerts, dynamic message signs, public address systems, and sirens) that are compatible with the Common Alerting Protocol.
FEMA’s goal for IPAWS is to create “an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people.”