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Last updated: Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Cities are having second thoughts about alerting residents to natural disasters and catastrophes via their cell phones and computers because of the expense, technological hurdles and whether it’s the best way to warn. Alert systems that issue e-mails and text messages for events big and small — from tornadoes to traffic jams — have been adopted across the United States. Although many communities are satisfied with the systems, others say their experiences have been rocky. When a tornado was reported near Fort Collins, Colo., in June, about 100,000 people who were supposed to receive alerts via their cell phones and e-mail inboxes never got the message. The tornado didn’t materialize, and nobody was hurt, but the failure led the local police agency that operates the program to retrain its users and the software company that developed the software to rework the system. Kimberly Culp, executive director of the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority, which oversees the Fort Collins program, said such glitches are expected with a program that is 10 months old. “Of course there’s going to be hiccups along the way,” she said. Then there is the cost. Some agencies pay annual fees to wireless service providers — such as Larimer’s $95,000-a-year contract to send an unlimited number of messages — and some pay per message sent. Houston officials aren’t happy with the cost and want the telecommunications industry to chip in. “We’re trying to get out there and say, ‘This is for emergency purposes,’” said Joe Laud of the Houston Emergency Center. “But of course, (wireless providers) are not in the public sector. They are in business to stay in business. That’s where the static is.” That rift has prompted communities to look to the federal government for help. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just started a two-year study to analyze the available technology, and the Federal Communications…

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Cities Rethink Latest Tech-Alert Systems

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