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Old 09-09-2012, 09:57 PM
 
143 posts, read 336,050 times
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Just curious, because I did, but the people I was with didn't. My cell phone sounded a loud alarm, like the ones on TV when they are running an emergency message. It was followed by a text message: EXTREME ALERT TORNADO SEEK COVER NOW. NWS. (I was in Ballston at the time, in the possible path of the possible tornado.)

Just wondering how many people got the same message, since I have never received this kind of thing before...
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Old 09-09-2012, 10:26 PM
 
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Could you have signed up for one of the counties' emergency/traffic alert notices once upon a time? I signed up for Fairfax's e-mailed notices (traffic backups after big accidents, severe weather warnings).

Or could it have been a service by your provider -- only for "extreme emergency" situations? Because people you were with didn't get it (different cell-service providers?).
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Old 09-10-2012, 04:36 AM
 
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I got one. I'm with Verizon for my cell and was in a possible path for the sighted tornado.
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Old 09-10-2012, 06:14 AM
 
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It's called "PLAN", and is in place for the 4 largest providers and works with a handful of older phones and all newer ones (since this summer, IIRC). Provides emergency alerts of all types.
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Old 09-10-2012, 06:40 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayess1 View Post
It's called "PLAN", and is in place for the 4 largest providers and works with a handful of older phones and all newer ones (since this summer, IIRC). Provides emergency alerts of all types.
Interesting - we didn't get the alert via AT&T - wonder how limited the area the alert went to was? We're in Sully Station and, I think (not sure - not a "trained weather observer"), we could see the storm rotation as whatever-it-was passed north of us (clouds were moving south but storm was moving east).

=========

BTW - this feature could be really useful for households such as mine - we rarely watch "regular" TV - most of our TV watching is streamed video from the Internet so any "emergency broadcasts" that come across regular channels do NOT come to us. BTW, part II, I was in an "internal" room of our house and had no idea about the storm when WHAM! something startled me - looked outside, saw the downpour, and asked my daughter to surf over to Weather Underground to check the radar. That site simply had a "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" message. My wife was watching streaming video and I asked her to check the Weather Channel - THAT channel said "Severe Thunderstorm Warning". THEN I asked my daughter, like three minutes later, to check Weather Underground again and it said "Tornado Warning". So a dynamic alert system could really be useful.

Last edited by sullyguy; 09-10-2012 at 06:48 AM.. Reason: added BTW
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Old 09-10-2012, 06:58 AM
 
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Good question. I was near the FFX/PW county line & got the alert. GalaxyS3/tmobile.
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Old 09-10-2012, 07:05 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayess1 View Post
Good question. I was near the FFX/PW county line & got the alert. GalaxyS3/tmobile.
Hmmm...okay, maybe this requires an actively working app on a smartphone? We use LG Xpressions - good dumb phones.
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Old 09-10-2012, 07:28 AM
 
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Pretty much, except the "app" is supposedly built in by the carrier/seller (again, I'm going 2nd or 3rd hand on this, so I could be all wet).
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Old 09-10-2012, 08:03 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sullyguy View Post
Hmmm...okay, maybe this requires an actively working app on a smartphone? We use LG Xpressions - good dumb phones.
Well, that got me thinking...
I got the phone the week before, so I just checked the box it came in-- it has a small logo that says "wireless emergency alert capable." So I guess the alert was part of that new emergency notification system for the newer smartphones.

As far as the notifications being implemented by the four major carriers, my carrier is el-cheapo pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile (which BTW is a fantastic deal at $35/ month including unlimited data...) I think it does use the Sprint network, so that may be why I got the alert.

My sister--on the other hand-- did NOT get the alert on her fancy-schmancy Verizon iPhone even though she was also in Ballston at the time...
Interesting.
I do like having this emergency alert thing!
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Old 09-10-2012, 08:07 AM
 
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I got it on my phone. My service provider is Verizon. I was also given the option to continue to get emergency alerts in the future. I think it's very useful.
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