 Here's to the things that can keep us safe, those we use all the time with hardly a thought, those that are silently standing by to save our lives, and now, those that we carry with us everywhere we go. Many mobile devices will now bring you wireless emergency alerts, real-time information directly from local sources you know and trust. With the unique sound and vibration, you'll be in the know, wherever you are. Hello and thanks for tuning in to this webcast about the wireless emergency alerts, WEA, also affectionately known as WEA. I'm Sean Boyd with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Today, really our goal is going to be to show you why these alerts are so important in our state to keep our citizens safe, to dispel any myths associated with them, and most importantly to encourage you, the local agency, first responders, to sign up today if you haven't done so already. So as Lily Wyatt explains, this is really just a compliment to the system, the emergency alert system that's already in existence. With more cell phones than Americans, it's logical emergency personnel view mobile devices as important communication tools to alert people as soon as possible that their lives or property are seriously at risk. That's why the FCC, FEMA, and the wireless industry develop the Wireless Emergency Alerts. WEA allows customers who own wireless phones and other enable mobile devices to receive geographically targeted text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. New technology ensures that emergency alerts will not get stuck in highly congested areas which can happen with standard mobile voice and texting services. There are three different kinds of alerts, presidential alerts issued by the president, imminent threat alerts that include severe man-made or natural disasters, and amber alerts that meet the U.S. Department of Justice's criteria to help law enforcement search for and locate an abducted child. So what are the benefits of WEA? Well, the service is automatic, no need to download an app or sign up. Neither mobile users nor the agency sending these alerts are charged for them. WEA uses a point-to-multipoint system which means alert messages will be sent to those within a targeted area. So even if you're away from home, as long as your cell phone is on and has a signal, you will get the alerts wherever you are, regardless of where the phone is registered. When the alert is sent out, the alert has a unique audible signal and vibration cadence so all consumers, including individuals with disabilities, are aware of the danger. These alerts are no more than 90 characters and include the following information, who's sending the alert, what is happening, who is affected, and what action to take. 24 cities and counties across California have already signed up for this service. To double check and see if your phone is set up to receive these alerts on an iPhone 5, you need to go into Settings, Notification Center, and scroll down all the way to the bottom to make sure the alerts are switched to the on position. Of course, this will vary by device manufacturers and carriers. You also have the power to turn these off, but emergency managers really don't recommend it. The goal of this program is to save lives and property as we build a disaster ready nation. In Sacramento, Lily Wyatt for Cal OES. So we know you have questions and we want to make sure we give you the answers to those questions right now and what you can do is email us at questions at caloes.ca.gov. One more time, questions at caloes.ca.gov and we'll get back to you right away. Officially available in April 2012, there are already a number of success stories across the state and the country, believe it or not, on how WEA has saved people's lives, many of them. Now recently I took a trip to San Diego to meet with the folks over there at the Weather Service to see just how these alerts have been sent out and how they're saving lives. Whether it's a missing child, a terrorist threat, or the weather, wireless emergency alerts or WEA can save lives, as many of the warning systems already in use do. But most of those require you to be tuned into the TV or the radio or logged onto the net. The power of the wireless emergency alert system is that you don't need any of that. All you need is a smartphone, which 61% of us have. The National Weather Service in San Diego began testing and using WEA in 2012. Since then it's issued more than 140 flash flood warnings alone. It took just minutes for mountain roads to be transformed into rivers in mud Sunday afternoon. It's working as it should. When we put it out to a certain area, it goes to that certain area. WEA allows the National Weather Service to use cell towers to target who gets their warnings for flash floods, tornadoes, dust storms, and tsunamis. Now keep in mind that these emergency alerts are specific to the highest threat area, meaning that here at Mission Beach, if a tsunami was expected to come ashore, only those folks here, the tourists and the residents, would be the ones to actually get those alerts. Alex Tardy shows us how they do it. So flash flood warning is up here. We go down here and we say how long? And then did public report flash flooding? Did Doppler radar report flash flooding? Did the media report flash flooding? They pick all those messages in there and then they hit create text. Once they write the message, the next step is to select the geographical boundaries for the WEA warning. It's as simple as drawing a box around it. Then hit send. Once they hit send, they don't do anything else. He says it's not perfect, but it's getting there. The concern right now is that it goes out to a larger population beyond that impacted, potentially impacted area. But the benefits far outweigh any concerns, including the challenges of determining who would issue any alerts and communication between those agencies. And they do work work in coordination with local jurisdictions so that there is a coordinated effort to ensure the messaging is appropriate and proper for that area. And the WEA system works beyond weather warnings. Law enforcement is finding more and more uses for it, especially for Amber Alerts. We approved itself with the Yuba City PD in June. You know, in my 16 year career in law enforcement, this was the best I've ever seen. Shawna Pavey is talking about how, in record time, a wireless emergency alert helped catch a man whom police believed kidnapped three children. To have a situation where the first time we really had an active Amber Alert system come out on this and have such a positive result to have three children return safely within five minutes is just phenomenal. Around here in Yuba City, Garender Judy is hero of the year. I didn't believe it. I was like, what? He got the WEA warning, an Amber Alert for three missing kids. He knew instantly it was serious. There has to be something about it. It's totally different. I've never seen anything on the phone like that before, right? And the timing was impeccable and so was Judy's awareness. He got a good look at the plate and it was a match. I was like a num. I was like, what? Then that's when I call 911. Five minutes later, cops had the suspect boxed in and under arrest. WEA performed beyond expectation and Yuba PD is sold on its capability and potential. Well, from a law enforcement perspective, this increases your eyes in the community exponentially. WEA can save lives and it just may have on that day back in June with a little help from an alert citizen. If people are aware, if they know what's going on around the surroundings, I think that thing works. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are just a few of the wireless companies who are participating in WEA, which is the result of a unique public-private partnership between the FCC, FEMA and the wireless industry to enhance public safety. Now in 1997, the emergency alert system was designed for the president to speak to the American people within 10 minutes of a national emergency. Since then, both the federal and state governments alike have been working on making improvements to these alerts. Now the wireless emergency alerts were formally known as the commercial mobile alert system and prior to that as the personal localized alerting network. So let's discuss how WEA at the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services can help you with these alerts. Joining me now to answer those questions are a number of folks here that we work with day in and day out. We're talking about OES Inland Regional Administrator, Eric Lamero. We have Fire Chief, Kim Zagaris, who is also a rescue and fire chief, I think is the official title, and then Mark Payson, who is our chief from law enforcement. So we're going to start with, first of all, I do want to thank you guys for being here, taking time out of your busy days. You guys, these guys are incredibly busy. So what we want to do, first of all, is talk with Eric. Eric, now you have obviously very dialed in to this WEA system. And I guess my first question to you would be as a manager, as an emergency manager, how do you find that WEA is beneficial during or prior to any kind of disaster? Well, you know, WEA, Sean, it's just the latest addition to our alert and warning toolbox. Just as we've always been able to get notifications of imminent threats out to folks through the EAS system, to their televisions and radios, now we have the ability to add to that the ability to get out to folks on their wireless devices. So it's really a key tool. Absolutely. And I would assume the same kind of holds true for you, Chief Zagaris. It does. WEA actually will help the fire and rescue and other first responders to be able to get out to notify the public of danger, either to them or their property. It could be during fires, hazmat event. It could also be during earthquakes, tsunamis, other weather related incidences, or it could be something as a multi casualty accident out on the highway, or it could be a terrorism event or some other type of disaster. Okay. And Chief Payson, with you, I would imagine the first thing that comes to your mind would be possibly amber alerts. Exactly, Sean. With WEA, the wireless emergency alert system, it now complements an already in place and successful alert system in the amber alert. So many successes with the amber alert system. We now can complement this with WEA. And also, I would also like to add with my counterparts that this sponsored governmental agency alert system will enhance the capabilities of not only a person, but a person's family in case of a disaster or some type of emergency that they are involved in or have witnessed. So it's a win-win for everybody. The story that we saw just a moment ago actually showed one of those families who benefited from that amber alert went right to that guy's cell phone, alerted him, it caught his attention, and boom, he was able to make the call. He didn't ignore it. He got that call and sent that call 911. Okay. Eric, so we've got a number of agencies, many of them in fact, too many, in California who haven't registered yet for WEA. Why is it important for these folks to register for WEA? Well, you know, it's a tremendous asset for us. You know, we've historically been very successful with the emergency alert system, hitting TVs and radios, but now we can hit those folks that are traveling through our communities. And when we've got a threat, it's important that we can reach as broad an audience as possible. We want to hit everybody. We don't want to get folks that are just listening on their radio or their television. We want to get folks that have their wireless devices. Recently, I was traveling through the Central Valley on business and got an alert of a hazardous dust storm that the National Weather Service believed was going to be blowing through the Valley. And, you know, that's really critical, especially if, you know, you're sensitive to those types of conditions or if it's a hazardous condition that we don't want folks driving through. So it's just a great new additional asset to allow us to get the broadest reach possible. And in fact, a lot of those folks who are out there in some of these rural communities are in ag and they may be out working the fields or something and it would benefit them to know that there was a dust storm on the way. Yeah, the tool, the wireless emergency alert system allows us to target wireless devices. The most important thing is that people don't disconnect that we service off their phone. It's a service that's already there. It's available. It's going to alert your device so long as you keep it active. And it doesn't cost them anything. It's there. It's already good to go. So Chief Zagaris, a lot of fires so far this season. We've had a little bit of a lull right now, which is nice. Any of these fires involve a WIA alert? Has it been utilized for any of those fires? Actually, this year, we're not aware of any time that's been used for any of the wildland fires that we've experienced. But I see actually for the future, it being a very useful tool out there. I think as Eric was just talking about, so many people in the old days would listen to the radio or would call their landlines back in the days. So many people using a cell phone today, a smart device, we can actually send it out and be able to get a hold of people. Just in a wildland fire, we never know exactly who's out and what they're doing. Whether they're camping, hiking, whatever type of recreation they may be doing. You can surely bet they're probably going to carry their cellular phone. And if they are, and if we've got connectivity, then we'll be able to reach them and send that message to them with any threat or danger so they're more aware of what's going on around them. Gee, Pays, I'm curious. You were a sheriff back in the day before you came to Cal OES. Was WIA or any form of that used back then when you were there? If not, would it have helped in any situation? You know, a sheriff in Merced County with Cal OES, the money that we got from those grants, we were able to put in the reverse 911. And you got to bear in mind, even though we've been going through a drought here in California, thank goodness the rains have come, we had a series of floods. We had a series of other fires in the Central Valley area. I cannot emphasize enough to Sean and to you and our viewers just how critically important the technological advancement of both the Amber Alert, WIA, the reverse 911, all these put together the perfect trifecta to enhance public safety. And that's what we're trying to emphasize here. So with all those little, I would submit to you arrows in our quiver, we're able to use that. And with the enhancement of WIA, again, it's all about public safety and the usability and the advancement of such. Absolutely, Eric. Yeah, go ahead. Sean, Chief Paisen talks about the reverse 911. It's a tool that a lot of local governments use to get notifications out to residents that have subscribed to that service. And where we are compliments that is you now have the ability to hit other folks that are traveling through that community. So the reverse 911 systems are incredibly robust. They get out to the residents that have signed up, but they miss those folks that may be traveling or tourists in a particular community. We've got a lot of those locations throughout the city. Now a moment ago, I may have misspoken to a certain degree. I said that if you don't get a wireless signal, you say you have bad cell coverage, that you may not get that alert. But from what I understand, that is possible to get some kind of alert, right? Well, there's concerns, I think, by some folks that the congestion will result in them not getting the alert. And that's not the case. The alerts will continue to go through regardless of any congestion that may be occurring. Okay. Does anybody else have anything else that they want to add? The whole point here is that there are too many agencies that haven't signed up yet. It seems like a no-brainer. It's just another tool in toolbox. Well, Sean, the only thing that we can collectively emphasize is about public safety. See something, you get the alert. Again, as Eric had mentioned and Chief Segaris had mentioned, between Amber Alert, between Reverse 911 and with the WEA, there's no reason not to be informed. And again, as I mentioned earlier in our conversation, the technological advancements are there and the public needs to use them not only for themselves but their neighbors and their family. We actually need the emergency services community to embrace it and we need the public to embrace it for their selfless individuals, their families, and their friends and their loved ones that really will benefit everybody. I can't imagine in today's day and age when you find out about an event that you don't reach out to touch all those folks one way or another. So, again, as society changes from how we used to listen to radio and TV and people on the internet, not listening to the radio, maybe they've got an iPod or some other device or they don't have landlines, just let everybody look at them or it's got a smart device, some type of cellular capability. So, it's really one of those things we need to embrace as citizens of the state and as a nation. It just makes sense, right? It just makes sense. Why would you not? All right. Thanks, gentlemen, for being here. Really appreciate you taking the time out and getting that message out. It's really important. All right. So, we want to thank you guys as well. Now, listen, we're going to have some folks standing by their emails and looking for emails to come in. Again, it's questions at calloes.ca.gov. Those questions will be answered by any one of these experts. Anyone, if they can't answer the question, we'll get it figured out one way or another and we'll get it back to you. So, be sure to send us those questions. But before we go, a quick recap. WIA is a federal initiative which began in June of 2012. WIA warnings include three types, presidential alerts, imminent threat alerts, and amber alerts. And here are the governments that can send WIA warnings. Federal agencies, state governments, territorial governments, and tribal governments, as well as local governments. And you'll need to buy incident management software. And for the public, WIA messages are free. They are automatic with no apps to download. And they look most like notifications when they come in, which, by the way, you should not disable. And we can't forget the CHP and Caltrans for letting us invade their communication center. It was critical for us to have this facility to get this message out. Thanks. Take care.