What's experiencing an EAS like?
Posted by funkidflash22@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 104 comments
Ok for context I'm British and we do have a somewhat EAS system (its only the phone alerts) but Ik you guys have the whole massive network of TV, phone and radio. Its a peice of media that sorta facinates me in a strange way and just wanna learn about experiences of it
GooseinaGaggle@reddit
It's annoying
I haven't watched actual TV in a couple of decades so I'm not sure what that's like. The phone push notifications were annoying so i opted out of them
ivylass@reddit
It's usually just a test signal. I usually hear it for Amber Alerts.
What has stuck with me is during September 11, they never sent out EAS.
BrainFartTheFirst@reddit
That depends. California uses the emergency alert system for several different types of messages. They're all going to have a very loud noise but some of them you don't have to pay attention to or at least aren't urgent for most people. That category will include things like silver alerts, amber alerts, and ebony alerts. They indicate missing people but don't have any risk to most individuals and are usually ignored unfortunately.
We also use the EAS system for earthquake alerts. They don't occur much before the earthquake but they might give you enough time to get undercover.
We also use it for evacuation alerts for things like fires. These should not be ignored, usually. Last year during the fires we had here in LA in January I got so many false alerts to evacuate that I have lost faith entirely in the system.
Not_A_Crazed_Gunman@reddit
I've never shit myself as much as when I was on a road trip and I got a tornado warning on my phone. The sound always startles me and to see that it was for a tornado was even worse
spiritualspatula@reddit
Part of my occupation is sending out said alerts. The television notifications lack the granularity of home/mobile alerts as they are broadcast over established broadcast regions. Telephone (mobile and landlines) we can select to send to residences with any given area as well as establish geofences that will send to all mobile devices that are within/enter said defined area while the alert is active. Let me know if you have questions and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Wow thats an actually cool job (well not like for what gets sent out half the time) but like really interesting. Ik the weather and ambers are the most comman but whats like another alerts that more often sent out?
spiritualspatula@reddit
Good question. It will largely depend what part of the country we are talking, as different areas suffer different kinds of natural disasters. I deal with wildfires frequently, as well as flooding. We will also send them out for things like crashed hazardous materials accidents if there is any concerns for public safety perimeter (this sort of thing obviously varies by load contents), as well as for police activity (this is a generic term we use that basically means something high risk is happening like barricaded parties or if SWAT is being deployed and we don’t want the public in the area). We send out non-emergency as well as emergency alerts for particularly severe weather. Where I am, emergency usually means we are anticipating dangerous levels of snow drifting which prevents travel or extremely cold (think -34c) weather with excessive windchill. We could also send them if we had another threat to public safety or some emergent scenario where we were looking for assistance from the public to help resolve a dangerous situation (finding missing endangered parties, that sort of thing). The process for AMBER alerts is different, I don’t directly send those myself.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
So essentially a lot of blue, turquoise/Ian, and weather emergencies. good to note
spiritualspatula@reddit
Just saw your other question: so IPAWS has a test environment that is used for routine testing of the system. My understanding is that FEMA was doing some testing and the television network basically had been incorrectly monitoring the test environment either in addition or instead of the live environment. This was compounded by the fact that it came from FEMA so it was retransmitted over a larger area instead of just a smaller regional broadcast. Thus, when a test was sent, it was pushed to the public inappropriately. I can’t say I’ve seen Dr Seuss as a placeholder message, but I’ve seen plenty of other random ones, and any user conducting a test can hypothetically put whatever they want, and while this seemed particularly weird, if you know the broader context it’s not as weird as it might seem. In a similar related way, there are lots of test files entered into the NCIC database that are cheeky entries like warrants for Mickey Mouse.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
The "Would you. Could You. On a train?" was a few years ago now and its slightly infomous becuase of its timing. Cuase the day after it was accidently broadcast a train in New Jersey crashed in a station. People since then drew theories about it and yh..they're ridiculous
spiritualspatula@reddit
Yeah I’m aware; the timing is only strange if you view it in the microcosm of one location it was sent; it was sent to a huge swath that also did not have any noteworthy train accidents. Such is confirmation bias coupled with a conspiratorial population.
ian9921@reddit
99.99% of the time it's something that doesn't affect you. Like an Amber Alert for someone on the other side of the state.
The only reason we don't completely ignore them is because they're still rare. And it's mostly just phone alerts now so you're not missing much.
Decades ago, it was interesting to watch TV with the family & randomly hear the audio cut out and get replaced with the alert noise, followed by a robotic announcer explaining the emergency while the information scrolled across the screen. But you don't really experience that much anymore.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
I think what interests me is how deep and systematic the American system like you guys have an alert for every type of incident from the ambers and silvers to gas leaks and avalanches
ian9921@reddit
Do you not also have equivalents to Ambers and Silvers? Or at least Ambers?
I get possibly not having some of the weather or natural-disaster related ones though.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Nope. When we end up with a missing child/senior or even person our county police will put a report up on (from all I've seen) Facebook unless it becomes major enough to make national news.
Surprisingly the UK didn't establish the EAS (or Emergency Alerts as its called here) until just after the Ukraine/Russia war kicked off
Scratocrates@reddit
So, you seem to be ragging on us for having these alerts, when it was the UK that was far behind the times in warning its subjects. What took you people so long?
drekiaa@reddit
Where is OP ragging on us?
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Thats what I'm wondering as well I was just pointing out when we the UK inplemented it
ian9921@reddit
So if you don't have Ambers, what do you even use your Emergency Alerts for? Because those are arguably the VAST majority of them here unless you're in an area prone to natural disasters.
cryptoengineer@reddit
The Amber Alerts are often time sensitive, with a description of the car thought to be carrying the abductee, and the general area. The idea is that motorists may spot the car and call it in.
CaptainHunt@reddit
To be fair, it was designed exclusively for civil defense emergencies, and its use has expanded to weather and Amber alerts in more recent decades.
Test4Echooo@reddit
I’ve since moved, but when I still lived in “tornado alley”, those were very handy if you couldn’t stay awake any longer or what have you. It was a frequent issue there.
MyUsername2459@reddit
The vast, overwhelming majority of uses of the system are for weather alerts.
The various other emergencies exist on paper, but I can’t remember actually seeing anything but weather alerts from Emergency Broadcast System/Emergency Alert System alerts.
Boopa0011@reddit
It is always very strange when I get an alert on my phone informing me somebody kidnapped a child in a city 90 miles away and might be on the interstate, possibly heading in the direction of my city, or possibly not.
yubnubster@reddit
The only difference is it doesn't appear on TV in the UK, just through the phones. So, I'd assume the experience is pretty similar.
anyname6789@reddit
I was in Hawaii a few years ago when a test message about an incoming nuclear missile was accidentally broadcast as a real alert. It was a pretty hectic 30 minutes until they said it was a false alarm.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
That is the most famous f*uck up ever in the system. All becuase one employee at the center where it gets sent out didn't hear any of the "EXERCISE" messages
K0T_666@reddit
Im old. Whole different experience. "EBS" emergecy broadcast system. Announcer had to speak from a long FCC mandated script. "If this had been an actual emergency...
😅
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
I mean EAS and EBS can be interchanged these days still has the same job.
Dave_A480@reddit
Everybody's cell phone rings/beeps all at once.
DeiaMatias@reddit
The siren still comes on every Saturday at noon. About the only time we use the radio is when weather is bad, and the National Weather Service still pops on in that weird digital voice
sluttypidge@reddit
Second Tuesday at noon.
WhatABeautifulMess@reddit
Sirens are local, not Federal. Many places don't have sirens.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
The voice of the alert scares me more than the actual tone
t-poke@reddit
Well, in reality they’re usually staggered by a few seconds depending on carrier as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile might push the alert out at different times.
But I used to work for AT&T corporate. Since employee discounts made our service dirt cheap, everyone had AT&T.
When an EAS alert went out, everyone’s phones started screeching in unison. All at once, perfectly synchronized. I remember once several of us were in a small conference room with the door closed and an AMBER alert went out. It was deafening with like 7 phones just screeching at max volume and the sound bouncing off the walls.
Head_Razzmatazz7174@reddit
We were at the store one day when a severe storm started heading our way. Cell phones all over the store were going off with various alarm sounds. Some were three long beeps, some had the red alert klaxon. About half of us stopped shopping and headed for checkout. The ones who got there quickly were able to get out to their cars and head home before rain started pouring don.
IlexAquifolia@reddit
They still do that in Wisconsin
Dave_A480@reddit
I grew up in the Milwaukee suburbs.
jluvdc26@reddit
My cable TV still gets the alerts! (Streaming apps of course don't)
RightYouAreKen1@reddit
Right in the middle of the best part of the show, no doubt…
sluttypidge@reddit
Sometimes at work if a TV is on it does an EAS warning but like it's just a test that it's working. The sound is unmistakable.
Most of my EAS not including Amber Alerts (which can be crazy because I'm 12 hours drive from Texas but still get those) are storm or freeze alerts.
Waiting for the first good storm of spring so I can dance, assuming not high lightning.
SideEmbarrassed1611@reddit
It's annoying. I mute them all.
TravelingMatt34@reddit
I am an 80s/90s kid and they used to test the system about once every few months on the TV. However you never really knew it was a test for the first 30 seconds or so until the recorded came on and said as much. So my memories of EAS involve being incredibly anxious that the world was coming to an end about 3-4 times a year.
AKA-Pseudonym@reddit
As I recall the announcement that "this is only a test" always came first. Followed by the alert sound and then some more information on what would happen if it was real.
3mptyspaces@reddit
Radio did this a lot, too. Speak & Spell voice: “This is a test of the emergency broadcast system.”
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Could always be the nationwide test that happend once.
myfourmoons@reddit
Sometimes I won’t even read them because the loud noise startles me and it makes me upset anyone has the power to do that in the privacy of my own home while I’m minding my business before I am even ready to read about anything disturbing like a child kidnapping. Why does it have to be a blaring ugly sound? Why can’t it be the harp or something? I would be just as likely to hear it.
shammy_dammy@reddit
There's not much of an 'experience'. The phone makes a pretty loud noise, there's a text alert and usually some instructions. You pick it up, you read it, and take appropriate steps if necessary.
dgmilo8085@reddit
And its fun when the whole office or classroom's phones all alert at the same time.
Adept_Strategy_9545@reddit
I’ve had it happen on a plane when the pilot flew us a lil too close to a tornado-warned storm. Didn’t know that could happen in airplane mode. (FWIW, it was AA which has free WiFi)
dobbydisneyfan@reddit
Or an entire Broadway theatre
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Unless your Hawaii a few years ago
EatLard@reddit
There was much browning of pants that day, I’m sure.
Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit
And your point is what? The only reason you as a Brit know about it is because it was an embarassing failure. We already knew it was a failure, we don't need anyone to point that out.
FoggyGoodwin@reddit
A lot of the weather alerts I get are read out loud for me, just like the Amber alerts.
redcoral-s@reddit
My family has a weather radio, and if theres severe weather expected my dad will bring out a second portable one for the living room. If anything happens then everything in the house starts screaming. Phones, the TV, two separate radios, its very loud
getElephantById@reddit
99.9% of my experience with those was mandatory monthly tests on the radio. "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. It is only a test..." followed by a series of very loud tones.
The only time I've heard it when it wasn't a test was after an earthquake was already over, so it was still not useful.
The Amber Alert system is for alerting you to potential kidnap victims in your area, but the problem is that they define your area very broadly. Getting an alert that someone 60 miles away got kidnapped is not useful information to me, unless the kidnapper is taking their victim to the area right outside my window. Sorry, but one of the first things I do when I get a new phone is turn all of those alerts off.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
How tf do you turn those off on an IPhone
HeyPurityItsMeAgain@reddit
Under notifications. Or sometimes there's a hide alters button.
SteampunkExplorer@reddit
Startling, because your phone and other phones in the vicinity start making an awful noise. Distressing, because it always means something horrible has happened, or may happen. I only get them a few times a year, but it's always for stuff like tornadoes, missing children, and violent criminals being loose.
Usually tornadoes. 😰 Never actually gotten one, never hope to.
nakedonmygoat@reddit
I got one of those too, at 5 am while most of us were sleeping. The scene of the crime was over 500 miles away, and there was no effin' way the perp was anywhere near us. A lot of us where I live turned off the damn alerts after that.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
That last part I'm aware refernces the blue alert.
HoyAIAG@reddit
Annoying
HeyPurityItsMeAgain@reddit
I disabled it.
Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit
I found out that mine now READS THEM. so I go from being startled by the buzzer to terrified that someone is in my room. telling me In a monotone voice, to go into the basement, or go outside and rescue a kidnapped child that was two hours away twelve hours ago.
Spirited-Way2406@reddit
Small town in tsunami country.
Nobody gets air or cable TV service anymore in my town, only streaming, but the local public radio station still uses the EAS. It's a loud, obnoxious buzzer --BZAAAH! BZAH-BZAH!-- followed by "This has been a test of the emergency broadcast system. If this had been a real emergency, the tone you just heard would have been followed by important information. This concludes our test of the emergency broadcast system." However, usually you feel a quake, then tune in to the public station to listen for updates. "Watch" status means "don't make plans for today," "alert" means "everybody be ready to go out the door just in case," and "warning" means "get the hell out, there's a tsunami."
We also have a network of electronic sirens that sound just like WWII sirens if a tsunami is inbound. If there is a chemical alert (ammonia or chlorine), they go DEE-dah DEE-dah instead and you are supposed to stay in and tape the doors and windows shut. The all-clear signal is the second half of the Westminster clock chime tune.
I didn't realize that my community had updated to phone alerts until we had an earthquake go off real close and my phone lit up bright red and started screaming just before the sirens went off. (No wave that time, but better safe than swept out to sea!)
EatLard@reddit
I hear tests quite a bit. The only times I get actual messages are for flash flood, severe storm/tornado, and the odd amber alert. Growing up, they’d do them on tv and radio. But if there was bad weather, we would just turn on one of the major networks on tv and the local meteorologist would be on with a radar map saying who needs to shelter immediately.
clutzycook@reddit
First time I heard it on my smartphone, I was in the car and freaked the hell out.
Historical_Low4458@reddit
Ngl, the radio ones are probably the most annoying. You're listening to a great song, and then the emergency alert system comes on, and lasts for the remainder of the song so you don't hear it finish.
Dmbender@reddit
Waking up to that sound because you left South Park on when falling asleep will never not immediately terrify me.
MsPooka@reddit
Tornado sirens are eerie, if we're counting them. On TV it's quite annoying and generally not something that you need to know specifically, like it effects people 10 miles away.
2PlasticLobsters@reddit
The only time I ever got a real one was about a severe thunderstorm in my area. I'd already known about it, since the storm had passed the part of the highway I'd been stuck on.
It really WAS bad. The sky got so dark, you'd have thought it was midnight (it was actually morning rush hour). And the hail was the worst I'd ever been in, bad enough I was worried about my windows.
Aaaaand five minutes after it was over, the alert was broadcast over the radio. Apart from that. I've only ever heard tests.
Better-Passenger-200@reddit
It’s a creepy surprise if your phone isn’t on silent. To me, the sound reminds me of the burglar music from The Sims 1.
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
Your phone makes an obnoxious noise and you look at it. That's it.
OldRaj@reddit
For military personnel, EAS refers to his or her last day of active service. For me, that was May 13, 1994. It was a fine day. Friday the 13th.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
thats a rather fun date.
rawbface@reddit
I had no idea what EAS meant until i read the comments. It's not a commonly referred to acronym.
OldRaj@reddit
End of Active Service.
Dave_A480@reddit
End Active Service.
Army calls it 'End Term of Service' though.....
Peculiar-Interests@reddit
So for the most part, cell phone alerts are the first thing you’ll get. Most of the time you’ll have to check local media for more information if necessary.
The most common alerts are weather alerts, usually severe thunderstorms, flash floods, and tornadoes. Another common alert is a Child Abduction Emergency (AMBER Alert).
The three screeching noises you hear at the beginning of emergency alerts are called Specific Area Message Encoding headers. They contain data on the alert type and locations affected that the EAS machines receive and retransmit. Check out the Wikipedia page on Specific Area Message Encoding to learn more about the different types of alerts that can be sent over the EAS.
Check out r/EmergencyAlertSystem
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
I watched a whole hour and half vid that went into every thoe of alert even those retired and unused (fir the best for some jesus)
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
Tell me you're on the spectrum without telling me
seifd@reddit
Most of the time, it's not a big deal. It's a bit scary when you hear a tornado is heading straight for you.
DuelJ@reddit
At home it usually means 4 devices going off at once, and it's a bit annoying.
In a crowd, everyone's phones goes off one after another, and once it quiets there's typically some idle chatter between anyone and everyone that follows. "God that's loud, you ready for a storm?"
ITrCool@reddit
PHone alerts, that are super-loud at times, TV (if you watch broadcast, it doesn't interrupt streaming services over the Internet) switches to a controlled screen with text that's describing the emergency situation, the radio station will also switch to an EAS automated alert with a pre-recorded or robotic voice message with all the pertinent information, and then loud sirens outside sending out a tonal signal depending on the situation:
- Constant tone = Tornado threat
- Up tone > down tone > up tone > down tone = incoming nuclear threat
- Short and sharp tone = fire/hazardous chemical situation in the area
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Lets hopenthat Up down Up tone never gets heard or used unless for testing purposes
ITrCool@reddit
Same. I live in the Midwestern States where we have tornadoes and have heard the constant-tone one many times in my life. Thankfully never been a tornado victim myself but they've come mighty close, too close for comfort sometimes. It's just something you accept living here, just like someone living on the coast accepts hurricanes, or out in California, accepting earthquakes and wildfires.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
yn strangly I kinda wanna live in the US to litterly experience any type of the alert
OK_Stop_Already@reddit
it tends to happen during hurricanes or tornadoes in my area. But the EAS you're probably thinking of really only shows up on Televisions. On cell phones you get the same emergency tones, but with a text message. no audio narration.
Pugilist12@reddit
The only interesting part is seeing how it rolls out. I’ve been in meetings with a fairly large group of people and some people got it like a full minute before others.
KevrobLurker@reddit
YouTube has examples. Here's one.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=wdpLWML_tDU&pp=iggCQAE%3D
hobokobo1028@reddit
Like getting a text
mostlygray@reddit
It's all broadcast devices. Over the air TV, Radio, Cellphones, Tornado sirens. They all go off. The radio will broadcast a screeching code that is readable by certain devices as text.
They used to run tests once a month. They don't seem to do that any more, or I'm just not listening to radio at that time.
When everything was over the air, it was very noticeable. You'd pop your head up when you heard the screech. We were worried that Reds were dropping the bomb and we were all going to die.
HairyDadBear@reddit
Picture this. You're chilling on your sofa reading a book, tv is on in the background somewhere, your kid just walk up to you to as- BEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP blaring throughout the whole house as everyone phones goes warning you about whatever the fuck it is. Could be a tornado warning, could be a missing kid. Either way you're annoyed and alerted now 😂
rando24183@reddit
I'll share my experience getting an alert on January 6th while in the DC area.
It was pretty similar to getting any other alert on my phone, except that I had no idea what it was referring to. It's amber alert (missing child), silver alert (missing senior), or weather related. This was none of those, just stay indoors.
It was sort of similar to 9/11, where "turn on the TV" meant every news channel was reporting on it (not something that happens often in real life). Currently, I only have streaming services, but YouTube was on top of reporting. I suppose if I had cable or was listening to the radio, those would have been interrupted.
ToadShakespeare@reddit
I will share a little different experience with these as a former school administrator. Even though we know hazardous warnings are likely imminent well in advance (due to forecasts, special message systems from the weather service for schools, etc.), the actual sirens going off always made things interesting.
Parents, school employees, and students often react in wildly different ways that make managing a response much more complicated and challenging.
Some staff want to leave, for example, but we had several thousands of students in the district across multiple schools and need people to supervise and manage student safety. Some parents want immediate access to their children while we are all supposed to be sheltering in place from the potential incoming tornado. Students would sometimes become very upset due to stress, anxiety, or sensory issues.
All of those issues are completely understandable, but it sure made things crazy at times.
SabresBills69@reddit
for emergencies…..
most with smart phone have alter notifications set up where you hear about weather warnings or amber/ child missing alert.
on TV stations, your primary new stations will cut in on emergency alerts as will scrolls come in the bottom. Cable systems will run both child missing and weather alerts.
the alerts are based on where they believe you are located. It’s more localized. On TV say your area gets a tornado warning in the TV market….this might be 75 miles from you but you still hear about it np because it’s part of the market. On cable/ smart phone/ weather broadcast channel as a county level idea of where you are and just alert those areas on a warning.
Demented-Alpaca@reddit
On your phone: 99% of the time you just silence it cuz it scared the hell out of you.
On the radio: Mostly you just change the channel.
On the TV: No idea... I haven't watched broadcast TV in years and I don't remember ever actually seeing one. But I did grow up with the "Its 10:00, do you know where you kids are" PSAs... Those were at least funny.
SillyBanana123@reddit
Last summer they did a test at 3am and I had left the tv on. It scared the crap out of me lol but then I realized it was just a test
IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit
Mostly annoying and boring. There's a banner which scrolls on the TV that says EAS TEST while the annoying tones sound.
Scott72901@reddit
Not much of an experience given it's only really used for weather alerts. And most people already know a tornado warning is happening before it hits our phones because the local TV meteorologists are already tracking the storm on-air. So it will go TV, phones and radio broadcast, tornado sirens sounding.
The only time it's a surprise is when they issue an Amber Alert for a nearby missing child.
funkidflash22@reddit (OP)
Yh I'm aware of Amber alerts for that purpose and its upsetting
jluvdc26@reddit
In Colorado we get severe weather alerts for tornados and large hail that beep and then scroll across the TV. They also do annoying tests of it once a month.
Adjective-Noun123456@reddit
Your phone goes beep, you get an alert, you read the alert. 🤷🏻♂️