Announcements
The Cache County Simulated Emergency Test in conjunction with the Great Utah Shakeout will be held Thursday, April 18, 2024, beginning around 5:30 p.m. Details about the exercise will be presented by Cache County ARES on Tuesday of this week. Watch the blog and email to find out how you can participate in the test.
Training
The ability to receive emergency notifications is an important part of your family communication plan. In tonight’s training topic we will discuss some of the options available for receiving one-way notifications in an emergency.
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are short emergency alerts authorities can send to any WEA-enabled mobile device in a locally targeted area. Alerting Authorities who are authorized to send WEAs include state, local, tribal, and territorial public safety officials, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the President of the United States.
It may be necessary to change some settings in your phone to receive the types of notifications you will need during an emergency. Open the settings menu on your phone and look in the notifications settings, or in some cases there is a separate category for wireless emergency alerts.
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that allows the president to address the nation within 10 minutes during a national emergency. Other authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial alerting authorities may also use the system to deliver important emergency information such as weather information, imminent threats, AMBER alerts and local incident information targeted to specific areas.
EAS notifications are sent through broadcast TV and radio, satellite digital audio services, direct broadcast satellite providers, cable television systems and wireless cable systems.NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcast continuous weather information from the nearest National Weather Service office based on your physical location.
In Cache County the broadcast frequency is 162.400 which is programmable into most 2 meter capable amateur radios. There are also desktop and console models for purchase which receive Weather Radio as well as other broadcasts. With these receivers, when a hazardous weather watch or warning is broadcast, an alert with a tone will automatically activate most receivers.
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is FEMA’s national system for local alerting. It gives federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial public safety agencies the ability to send WEAs, EAS alerts, weather and non-weather-related emergency messages simultaneously through NOAA weather radios, and alerts through systems like sirens and digital billboards.
The FEMA App allows you to receive real-time weather and emergency alerts for up to 5 locations, send notifications to loved ones, locate emergency shelters in your area, get preparedness strategies and more.
In addition to the services described above, the Cache County Sheriff’s office of emergency management publishes emergency information online at cachecountyalert.org. During an emergency, information will also be broadcast on the Cache County Emergency Management radio station WQKB (1610 AM).
Code Red Alerts is another notification service used by local emergency managers in the county. To receive notifications pertinent to Cache County you can register on the Code Red Alert site, or download the app to your mobile device. Instructions to register can be found on the cachecountyalert.org website.