> Local stations provide local disaster alert systems
These days sending alerts via texting them to phones should be far more effective.
> Local stations provide local disaster alert systems
These days sending alerts via texting them to phones should be far more effective.
Not reliable, as cell sites can go down in disasters, while the giant secured antennae that broadcast PBS and NPR aren't going anywhere.
I have NEVER tuned into PBS for weather and disaster alerts. Growing up in rural America I've seen this headline multiple times, but I'm 99% sure in my community PBS doesn't actually do any weather coverage during tornadoes or similar. You MIGHT get a required alert tone and a banner, but no radar or anything of real value.
Our local news stations do an amazing job and they don't ask me to donate.
I spent over a week in an area that went without electricity and most utilities after a widespread disaster. By virtue of living through one previously, I had a generator hooked up to the gas line, so I still had power during and after this disaster.
Internet access was down, cable was down, cell service wasn't there or was overloaded 2G that was useless, but I had did have OTA DTV. The local PBS partner station covered pertinent information about what was going on, recovery efforts, when/where to get fuel and other assistance, what kind of disaster relief to expect and when, etc.
I understand my experience is subjective, but I'm actually a bit amazed. Thanks for the info, and I'm glad you had something.
Something similar happened to me like 15 years ago, and I just had a AM radio.
Wasn't service supplied during the Helene hurricane with Starlink?
When I was a kid in Kansas in the 1960s, the tornado warnings were done with a siren. And yes, we got hit by a tornado, but were safe because we heeded the siren.