Emergency Alerts Need an Upgrade

If terrorists attack or a hurricane threatens, how will you be alerted? The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working on a system upgrade that would enable authorities to contact citizens via cellphone or e-mail instead of relying on television and radio as the government has since the 1960s.

Under the new Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, Americans would be able to receive emergency messages from federal or local authorities on the electronic devices of their choice. Scheduled to be up and running by the end of 2012, the system is designed “to alert and warn the American people under all conditions through as many means as possible,â€