Understanding WEA's

5/3/2016 (Permalink)

Living in the Midwest means dealing with unpredictable storms. These storms often lead to damaging wings, hail and tornadoes. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are emergency messages sent by authorized government alerting authorities through your mobile carrier. Government partners include local and state public safety agencies, FEMA the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Weather Service. Alerts received at the right time can help keep you safe during an emergency. With WEA alerts can be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harm’s way, without need to download in app or subscribe to a service. WEA may share: 

-Extreme weather warnings

-Local Emergencies requiring evacuation or immediate action

-AMBER Alerts

-Presidential Alerts during a national emergency

A WEA will look like the picture shown above. The WEA message will typically show the type and time of the alert, any action you should take and the agency issuing the alert. The message will be no more than 90 characters.