Houston Area Local Emergency Communications Committee

Topics l Overview of EAS l How EAS is Activated l How Public is Warned l Changes Effective March 1

What is EAS? l Required by the FCC l All Radio, TV, Cable, SDARS and DBS systems are required to broadcast national EAS messages, plus conduct required weekly and monthly tests l President issues National EAS l Governor issues State EAS l Local Authorized Officials issue Local EAS messages

National EAS Alert l FEMA or WHCA activates EAS for an Emergency Alert Notification (EAN) message by the President l 4 Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations: KTRH-AM 740 in Houston WBAP-AM 820 in Fort Worth KLBJ-AM 590 in Austin KROD-AM 600 in El Paso l All radio, TV & cable systems must broadcast an EAN message “live”

State EAS Alert l Texas DPS DEM activates EAS at request of Governor or other state official for appropriate Event Code l 7 State Relay (SR) stations include the 4 PEP stations, plus: WOAI-AM 1200 in San Antonio Texas State Network National Public Radio affiliates l Radio, TV & cable stations should re-broadcast within five (5) minutes

SECC and LECC l State EAS Plan developed by SECC (State Emergency Communications Committee) l Texas divided in 25 Local Areas l Local EAS Plan is developed by its LECC (Local Emergency Communications Committee) l All State and Local EAS Plans must be approved by the FCC

Houston EAS Area 13 counties: l Austin l Brazoria l Chambers l Colorado l Fort Bend l Galveston l Harris l Liberty l Matagorda l Montgomery l San Jacinto l Waller l Wharton

Houston Area LECC Members Primary and Secondary representatives at: Radio, television & cable systems Local cable TV franchising authorities City/County Offices of Emergency Management Local Emergency Planning Committees National Weather Service Federal Bureau of Investigation United States Coast Guard South Texas Project

Who Can Activate EAS? Law enforcement agency issuing an AMBER Alert for abducted child National Weather Service Mayor or city Emergency Management Coordinator County Judge or county Emergency Management Coordinator Special Agent In Charge of Houston FBI Captain Of The Port for the USCG Sector Houston/Galveston

l Non-profit organization administered by its own Board of Directors l AMBER Alerts are vetted and issued by the Texas Center for the Missing (TCM) l Free AMBER Alert training is available to participating law enforcement agencies l Since Dec 2000, 156 AMBER Alerts have been issued for 192 missing children l Average of 12 AMBER alerts per year l Average of 94% recovery rate

1. Child is 17 years old or younger 2. Law enforcement agency believes child has been abducted 3. Child is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death 4. Agency investigation verified abduction or eliminated alternatives 5. Sufficient information is available to locate child, suspect or vehicle

l Law enforcement agency logs in to secure AMBER Plan website to provide info l AMBER Alerts are vetted and issued by the Texas Center for the Missing (TCM) l AMBER Alerts are ed to KTRH-AM, KUHF-FM, NWS, other media outlets, and other subscribing AMBER Plan Partners

l NWS issues Child Abduction Emergency (CAE) as EAS on NOAA Weather Radio l KTRH-AM and KUHF-FM will broadcast AMBER Alerts without EAS activation l Broadcasters wanting to automatically re-broadcast AMBER Alerts must monitor NOAA Weather Radio for CAE messages

Who Can Activate EAS? Law enforcement agency issuing an AMBER Alert for abducted child National Weather Service Mayor or city Emergency Management Coordinator County Judge or county Emergency Management Coordinator Special Agent In Charge of Houston FBI Captain Of The Port for the USCG Sector Houston/Galveston

Who Can Activate EAS? National Weather Service Law enforcement agency issuing an AMBER Alert for abducted child Mayor or city Emergency Management Coordinator County Judge or county Emergency Management Coordinator Special Agent In Charge of Houston FBI Captain Of The Port for the USCG Sector Houston/Galveston

EAS Activation Criteria 1. Poses immediate or imminent threat to life or property 2. Has potential to adversely impact a significant population or geographic area 3. Recommends the public to seek shelter or take protective action (such as evacuation, lockdown, or Shelter In Place)

Other Notification Tools l “Reverse 9-1-1” systems such as GHC Emergency Notification System l Inbound phone and web-based systems such as the CAER Line ( ) l , SMS text messages, and outbound phone systems such as Blackboard Connect, FirstCall, Nixle, PIER System, and Rapid Notify l Satellite systems such as ALERT FM l News services such as AP, UPI, Reuters

EAS Event Codes Civil Danger Warning (CDW) Hurricane evacuation or public health emergency requiring protective actions Fire Warning (FRW) Structural, forest or wildfire requiring evacuations Hazardous Materials Warning (HMW) Toxic or flammable chemical release requiring evacuation or Shelter In Place

EAS Event Codes Law Enforcement Warning (LEW) Terrorist attack, active shooter, bombing, riot, or bridge collapse requiring evacuation, lockdown, or other public protective actions

Who Can Activate EAS? National Weather Service Law enforcement agency issuing an AMBER Alert for abducted child Mayor or city Emergency Management Coordinator County Judge or county Emergency Management Coordinator Special Agent In Charge of Houston FBI Captain Of The Port for the USCG Sector Houston/Galveston

EAS Event Codes Radiological Hazard Warning (RHW) Loss or release of radioactive materials requiring evacuation

EAS Event Codes Nuclear Power Plant Warning (NUW) Emergency at nuclear power plant requiring evacuation

South Texas Project Electric Generating Station l In case of emergency at STPEGS, Matagorda County will notify NWS to activate NOAA Weather Radios issued to residents within 10 miles of the STPEGS plant l NWS will issue NUW message on EAS l EAS messages will also be broadcast on KMKS-FM and KKHA-FM 92.5

EAS Activation Sites Effective March 1: Local Primary #1: KUHF-FM 88.7 Local Primary #2: KTRH-AM 740 Houston/Galveston Office of National Weather Service

LP-1 and LP-2 Stations l KTRH-AM 740 remains the Primary Entry Point and State Relay station for the Houston area l KUHF-FM 88.7 issues Local EAS alerts and conducts EAS/PIES tests l Radio, TV and cable must monitor at least two (2) sources who provide best audio quality & signal strength: either LP-1, LP-2, NOAA Weather Radio, or Texas State Network

LP-S (Spanish) Station l If designated, LP-S station will translate EAS messages into Spanish l LP-S will re-broadcast the message in Spanish within five (5) minutes of translation l During hours when no Spanish translator is available, LP-S can re-broadcast EAS messages in English

How is EAS activated? Local Authorized Official contacts KUHF, KTRH, or National Weather Service Unlisted direct phone number Or EAS/PIES Radio

Public Information Emergency System (PIES) l Two-way radio is a backup to telephone notification l Effective March 1, PIES will switch from 450 MHz to 800 MHz EAS/PIES Talk Group on Harris County’s TXWARN Radio Network l All 13 county OEMs & most city OEMs already use TXWARN l Harris County ITC will add EAS/PIES Talk Group to existing TXWARN radios

How is EAS activated? Use fill-in-blank EAS Warning Script Give appropriate EAS Event Code

EAS Warning Script Describe incident Define area impacted Estimate timeframe Recommend public protective actions EAS message must be less than 2 minutes

How Is Public Warned? KUHF-FM and KTRH-AM will broadcast the EAS Warning with EAS Header Code and Attention Signal EAS Header Code trips EAS receiver at all other radio, TV, and cable systems in 13 county area Stations should program EAS receiver to semi-automatically re-broadcast EAS for Event Codes

How Is Public Warned? All radio, TV and cable systems are asked to re-broadcast EAS message within 5 minutes of receipt, or use own on-air staff to read EAS message EAS header code and attention signal are optional for any re-broadcast

How Is Public Warned? TV and cable can provide full-screen text or crawl at top of screen to not conflict with closed captioning or character-generated supers Spanish-language TV stations can display text or crawl in either Spanish or English

Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) EAS Header Code contains a 1-second burst of digital data For example: l Originator: CIV l Event Code: HMW l County: Harris l Time Period: 2 hours l Date/Time of EAS Message

NOAA Weather Radios l Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) models Tone-alerts when EAS activated Can be programmed to alert for specific counties or event codes Low-cost way to warn schools, hospitals, homes and businesses Tested by NWS at 11am Wednesday

EAS Tests l Required Weekly Test (RWT) Random days and times Postpone RWT during severe weather 8-sec. Attention signal not required Audio test message is optional Must log receipt of RWTs received from LP-1 and LP-2 stations

EAS Tests l Required Monthly Test (RMT) Conducted by KTRH-AM and WBAP-AM on Tuesday of first full week of each month Even-numbered months between 4:45 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. Odd-numbered months between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. All radio, TV and cable systems must log receipt and re-broadcast the entire RMT within 60 minutes

EAS Tests l EAS/PIES Talk Group Test Effective March 1, KUHF-FM will conduct test with KTRH-AM, NWS, and all 13 county OEMs every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Each County OEM can schedule an EAS/PIES Test with its City OEMs on dates/times they can determine

Integrated Public Alert Warning System l IPAWS is an internet-based warning system that can issue one (1) alert to multiple devices: Emergency Alert System (EAS) Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) NOAA Weather Radios Websites and Social Media Digital Signage Sirens

Train The Trainer l Download this PowerPoint presentation with Speaker Notes l Download approved version of the Houston EAS Local Area Plan l Download logos for EAS and AMBER Alert, and IPAWS Architecture chart

Any Questions? For more information: Chuck Wolf Houston Area LECC Emergency Alert System phone: