Last Night’s Storms Trigger New Wireless Emergency Alert That Surprises Some Residents
Decatur Metro | October 2, 2012
Lee writes in with this FYI…
I received the following emergency alert last night (complete with tones just like you hear on the radio before a test of the Emergency Broadcast System):
Evidently Verizon has rolled the WEA service nationally (AT&T not so much) and these alerts can be received by “capable” devices such as iPhones with iOS 6 installed. More background can be found here:http://gigaom.com/mobile/get-ready-emergency-alerts-are-coming-to-your-cellphone/
Latest from Decaturish
Yep. My phone danced and honked on the kitchen counter, getting our attention.
I don’t understand why large limbs fell last night without noticeable winds. Perhaps the leaf canopies were so saturated that the weight pulled them down?
I received the same alert on my blackberry from Verizon. Hey so I guess blackberry’s still work well.
Scared the holy you-know-what out of me.
+100 I received the alert on my iPhone with the same alert sound that usually precedes an emergency announcement on TV—The fact that I was sound asleep and the TV was off was what was so jarring, but it’s good to know it’s loud enough to wake me up in the event of an actual emergency.
I got the alert on my T-Mobile Android.
This is tangential to the topic but this is the most relevant open thread I could find. Has anyone heard anything about the robbery of a Decatur High School student that is being reported on Decatur Patch right now? “… robbery took place about 4:25 p.m. Sept. 23 in the 100 block of Avery Street. A Decatur High student said he was walking home when a man came from the rear of Avery Glen Apartments with a 6-inch, combat-style knife. The man told the student “empty your pockets” and the student handed over his wallet that held about $50. The man fled north on Avery Street towards East College Avenue…..”
I wouldn’t call my kids free range but they do walk a lot around Decatur. This kind of incident involving a minor in the after school hours on a well-worn school walking route is worrisome. Our rule is no walking alone but that’s difficult to enforce when kids’ activities all vary so much by day, by time, by season, by homework load, by parent availability etc.