A Case For Emergency Alerts From Space
By Pete Gaynor
Originally published in LinkedIn posts on March 15, 2023, under the title, “A Case for Emergency Alerts from Space.” © Copyright 2023 Peter T. Gaynor
On April 29, 2022, the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak Fires started to burn. The flames continued for the next 114 days. Large portions of San Miguel, Mora, and Taos Counties in New Mexico were ablaze. The fires consumed more than 340,000 acres (530 square miles, approximately the size of Los Angeles County, CA) and destroyed and damaged more than 1,000 structures. The fires also left thousands with unreliable communications or with none at all. Fortunately, there were no reported fatalities.
Every year, approximately 7,500 Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are issued by federal, state, and local governments and tribes and territories. These alerts cover a wide range of hazards. Everything from weather warnings and watches to Amber Alerts comes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), all under a single platform.
The IPAWS architecture mainly relies on a terrestrial or ground-based network of cellular towers, fiber, and microwave transmissions. The system is impressive and has stood the test of time. This system has saved tens of thousands of lives before, during, and after disasters. However, every year disasters leave hundreds of thousands, or millions, without access to communications when needed because the ground network is destroyed or disabled.
American technology has advanced, so we can practically eliminate this post-disaster communications gap. The capability to communicate directly from ordinary cell phones through satellites in space now exists. Yes, that means the cell phone you hold in your hand can be a satellite phone with no modifications or “apps” needed.
Each year, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, winter storms, tornadoes, and even non-disaster events like power outages expose some of the fault lines with our terrestrial-based emergency alert system. Simply stated, without a functional network of ground-based cellular towers, fiber, and microwaves, emergency alerts can’t get to the people who need them the most—those in the path of an oncoming disaster.
Any disaster is devastating. Loss of life, personal property, homes, and businesses creates havoc in every community touched by a disaster. But what follows can be equally deadly and destructive.
Some disasters put the area at greater risk of future disasters. Months after the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak Fires in New Mexico, burn scars eradicated vegetative ground cover, which in turn, failed to hold back soil, trees, and rocks on hills and mountainsides, leading to floods and mudslides. As spring and the monsoon season approached, New Mexico public safety authorities grew concerned about the lack of cell service, which had not yet been restored to the affected communities. As a result, these officials could not get WEA alerts to those in the potential path of flooding, mudslides, or other dangers. Problems with National Weather Service (NWS) weather radio transmitters and the slow restoration of service in disaster-stricken areas meant that some communities endured for months without sufficient WEA coverage.
Traditional over-the-air EAS radio and TV emergency alerts can fill in some gaps, but most people are unable and/or unwilling to be close to a radio or TV all day to monitor for potential alerts. It is unsurprising that in our cell-phone-dominated world, residents insist their primary method to receive emergency alerts is by cell phone.
So, back to communicating from space.
Every American should have access to emergency alerts, no matter where they live, work, or travel. Whether cellular service is knocked out after a disaster or someone is on the open water, in a lightly inhabited location, or resides in a disadvantaged community with poor or no cellular coverage, emergency 2 alerts should be accessible. There is no way to deliver a WEA without cellular towers and associated infrastructure
The technology now exists to deliver, for the first time, emergency alerts, advance warnings, and evacuation orders to thousands who might otherwise perish in disasters every year. These “cell towers in space” can save lives.
We need a call-to-action. We need to make every lawmaker aware that this technology exists, is available, and should be implemented without delay. We need federal agencies like FEMA and the FCC to embrace the technology to make it the gold standard of emergency alerts. Finally, we need to let cellular consumers know that this technology can be available to them—and that it could save their life one day
As the former FEMA Administrator, I am proud of what FEMA and our partners have done to keep the American people informed and safe. As technology advances, we must advance with it. This is the next logical step to improve our emergency alert system. We need to act today.
