Emergency Broadcast Warnings increasing. Please list here if your area is also receiving!

So I am in Canada, Outside of Toronto Ontario to be exact and lately we have been receiving a new type of emergency warning message that is delivered simultaneously to cell phones, television and radio.

I was talking about this on another thread regarding school drill procedure and it got me thinking. Is this happening country wide or just near me? Does the US have this as well? What about UK? Down Under? Heck everywhere! If so is the language the same or different?

Then I started thinking maybe ATS would be a good place to see if others are getting the same , when it is happening and what they appear like in different places.

So below is the weirdo language I guess has come from my government...I really do not know who or how these get put out.

We have not had emergency warning systems since the early 80's during the Cold War and those messages came on T.V. " This is a test of the emergency broadcast system, this is only a test." With a rainbow screen and a loud beep tone to get one's attention.

This new warning is a little more creepy.

Let me know if anyone else out there is seeing anything close to the same.

a reply to: tiredoflooking

We've had those emergency text messages for years now in Australia. First time I got one was back in 2009 or (maybe) 2010, warning about bushfires in the local area. No idea how they got my number or the method they use to send them.

But yeah, we've got them.

We have these implemented is Australia for fires and a amber alert for child abduction.
The SMS's are localised to the area, great idea and great initiative that has saved countless lives.

Emergency Alert is the national telephone warning system used by emergency services to send voice messages to landlines and text messages to mobile phones within a defined area about likely or actual emergencies.

Info

a reply to: tiredoflooking

The UK has a little-known plan in place that would use popular phone carriers and the BBC to warn the population of impending attacks. We'd have messages simultaneously broadcast across the BBC radio channels whilst the phone carriers would, presumably, send messages to as many mobile phones as possible. People who aren't placed to receive any of these messages would probably be within sight or sound of someone who is.

Coincidentally, there's been some talk about our post-nuclear attack plans this week. BBC Radio 4 will be like a heartbeat monitor. If it stops transmitting, the people with the codes to return fire will automatically become authorised to act on their own. Obviously they'd have the go-ahead before then, but without BBC R4, they'd be something like autonomous decision-makers for a nation that was already fallen.

a reply to: tiredoflooking

We've had emergency messages for a while now as well. They usually come up when there is a weather issue we need to be careful of or something like that. I also get one on my cell when there is a child taken called Amber Alert. Aside from that I don't know of anything new though.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Thanks for letting me know, is the language similar to ours here?

originally posted by: muSSang
We have these implemented is Australia for fires and a amber alert for child abduction.
The SMS's are localised to the area, great idea and great initiative that has saved countless lives.

Emergency Alert is the national telephone warning system used by emergency services to send voice messages to landlines and text messages to mobile phones within a defined area about likely or actual emergencies.

Info

Thanks for the info, and link. You guys seemed to have been informed about it unlike us. It just started one day with no warning or mention!!

originally posted by: Kandinsky
a reply to: tiredoflooking

The UK has a little-known plan in place that would use popular phone carriers and the BBC to warn the population of impending attacks. We'd have messages simultaneously broadcast across the BBC radio channels whilst the phone carriers would, presumably, send messages to as many mobile phones as possible. People who aren't placed to receive any of these messages would probably be within sight or sound of someone who is.

Coincidentally, there's been some talk about our post-nuclear attack plans this week. BBC Radio 4 will be like a heartbeat monitor. If it stops transmitting, the people with the codes to return fire will automatically become authorised to act on their own. Obviously they'd have the go-ahead before then, but without BBC R4, they'd be something like autonomous decision-makers for a nation that was already fallen.

That sound a little more like what is going on here, but it seems they decided to test it out of the blue and then...just not talk about it.

Funny you should mention the post nuke plans and dead man's switch type of set up. I was just recently reading a thread here the other day about numbers short wave radio stations from Russia, and someone did mention that perhaps one of the Russian stations has that very dead man's switch function. I wonder if radio is becoming the new "old" tech tech!

If an EMP weapon were to go off does it affect radio? I would think it would unless they had back up generators and got them turned on quick. I wonder how quickly these dead man's switchs would be activated...

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: tiredoflooking

We've had emergency messages for a while now as well. They usually come up when there is a weather issue we need to be careful of or something like that. I also get one on my cell when there is a child taken called Amber Alert. Aside from that I don't know of anything new though.

Thanks for the reply, You know we do not get them for Amber alerts here, we should. It would make them much more useful to people!

So anyone from the US? Or Canada? Or anywhere else?

We have frequent tornadoes in this area so we have had a weather system warning in place but just on the T.V. a red banner comes across the bottom of the screen. So this new warning system is for something else I think. Whatever they are thinking of as a "threat" I do not know and hope not to find out. It really would have been prudent for them to set up something like Australia has obviously done, with a website EXPLAINING what it is about!

a reply to: tiredoflooking

Here's your website:

Alert Ready

It looks like you guys have quite a system in place.

Stay safe! I hope they are all will just ever be "tests"!

I get them here In Illinois for Amber Alerts, but it's something you can opt out of. National Emergency Messages are nothing new. I remember seeing them on TV all the time growing up. Haven't seen one in quite a few years, but I'm sure if it were needed, they would broadcast them again, as well as a text on cell phones.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Thank you, wow. I searched the other day and didn't find this. I am glad they put something in place to explain!

I thank you, humbly, for finding it for me! A group of my friend's and relatives were freaking out a bit over this one!

originally posted by: DAVID64
I get them here In Illinois for Amber Alerts, but it's something you can opt out of. National Emergency Messages are nothing new. I remember seeing them on TV all the time growing up. Haven't seen one in quite a few years, but I'm sure if it were needed, they would broadcast them again, as well as a text on cell phones.

Interesting, we had not had them here either except those years ago on T.V. It seems ours are province wide, I wonder why you down south don't have more of a system. Especially with all of the beefed up border and homeland security methods now in place. I wonder if it would be federal or statewide... I'd be Interested to know if anyone else down south has got or been getting Emergency warning messages.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Oh I meant to ask, do you have any alerts in place in your state?

a reply to: tiredoflooking

You are more than welcome!

A month or so ago my BIL was in the living room watching TV (as usual LOL) and I heard this really odd "beep beep beep"...
I looked over and said "what's that on the TV?". He says "it's that emergency thing, you know..."

Well, no, I really didn't. I thought they quit those years ago...I'm not sure why.
Maybe I just got so used to them over the years, I tuned them out...Maybe because I don't watch a lot of TV...
who knows?
Your Canadian Alert System sure does look fancy! I don't think ours (US) is nearly that, although I am sure I could be wrong...
we get the scroll across the screen (and cell phone msg.) off bad weather. Amber alerts on the cell phone.

I did get a robocall a couple of months ago at work. It said something to the effect of someone was armed and dangerous and to stay inside. That was a first, for me!
Edit: It turned out that a few streets over from my office there had been a home invasion. Some jerk offs kicked a guy's door in and robbed him.

a reply to: tiredoflooking

Aye it's funny. Years ago, everyone had a bunker or tunnel to run to. Nowadays, if the signal went out, what would we be supposed to do? I don't know of any bunkers within miles and miles of home.

Dead Man's switches huh? The last acts of crazy bastards lol.

In a very objective way, I'd prefer there weren't any. I mean, the MAD scenario is a good deterrent and yet a terrible finale to humanity. Far better that there's a 'victor' and a land left over where humanity can continue to live.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

So I guess they are updating systems for you guys as well huh. That robocall system is nifty, I wonder how the heck that works... it sure is good info to have even for something like a single home invasion in your area. The real problem is if there is a big disaster all of these fancy warning things will not work. Really even if there is just a power outage!! lol

a reply to: Kandinsky

Yes it would be nice if these massive superpowers would leave something around for after the dust settles. I predict that if there is use of nuclear force (I sure hope not) that they will not be the old giants of the Cold War, but instead smaller more contained attacks. Maybe with a large city or 4 taken out. That really would not be wonderful for you in the UK,or for Europe , or the middle east. Not much room to escape. I would like my chances in Canada if I weren't located near the bottom of southern Ontario which is only an 8 hour drive to NYC. I have been contemplating very seriously about moving farther north, if I didn't hate the winters there SO much!

In the UK we have cBS and localised SMS.

Basically cBS is Cell broadcast service. Its very similar to a text message but works slightly different in that the sending party does NOT need the mobile number they simply send the message out and it is picked up by compatible mobile handsets (most phones now) It works on a different system than SMS.

Localised SMS work as it says, they send a message to a specific area, again no number needed they target cell towers within a localtion, send the message and its broadcast out as an SMS.