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TMCNet:  Your phone now alerts you to bad weather

[March 19, 2013]

Your phone now alerts you to bad weather

Mar 19, 2013 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- You might be in a car, unaware a tornado is forming nearby, when you hear a warning tone from your cell phone, followed by a text-like message.

The attention-grabbing alarm is part of the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, a congressionally-mandated free service that issues warnings for extreme weather in the specific area you're in at the time. Introduced last June and installed on most new phones, many people still don't realize it exists, National Weather Service officials said.

"Really the purpose is to reach as many people as possible during an emergency, regardless of whether they're at home or work or in their car," said weather service meteorologist Robert Molleda.

Unlike an app you have to download, most major cellular companies offer the alerts without asking you to sign up. While most new devices are compatible, some phones might need a software update which wireless companies will provide.

Since July, 11 alerts have been issued for South Florida, including four tornado warnings and seven flash flood warnings (three the result of Hurricane Isaac's drenching rains in August). Nationwide, there have been 937 alerts for tornadoes and 1,864 for flash floods.

Alerts can also include threats of imminent danger, such as chemical spills, Homeland Security warnings and Amber alerts. In January, thousands of South Florida smartphone users received notice -- in the middle of the night -- that an Amber alert had been issued for a missing 2-year-old in Collier County. At the time, Lisa Agro of Hollywood said it "sounded like a Nazi air-raid siren." The child was found safe.

Developed by the Federal Communications Commission and FEMA, the system issues alerts from cell phone towers within a given area, not GPS. They won't disrupt texts, calls or data sessions in progress.

Don't expect to be warned about your average thunderstorm, Molleda said. "These are basically for extreme weather warnings," he said.

kkaye@tribune.com or 954-572-2085 ___ (c)2013 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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