Post date: Jun 18, 2012 7:29:32 PM

New weather text-alert system starts next week

HASTINGS — Beginning next week, the nationwide text alert system Wireless Emergency Alerts will operate in Nebraska.

The National Weather Service will send information for weather emergencies that are most dangerous to life and property: tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, extreme wind, blizzards and ice storms, tsunamis and dust storms.

The WEA system is a partnership among the wireless industry, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

WEA-capable cellphones will pick up alerts broadcast by nearby cell towers, and the message will automatically appear on the phone in the form of a text message up to 90 characters in length. People may also receive Amber Alerts and presidential messages for national emergencies.

The WEA system is not a replacement for other alert systems and should not be the sole method to receive emergency information. Not all cellphones will be capable of receiving the alerts.

More information can be found at www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/wea.html.