KVRR Local News
People confused as shelter in place alert in Fargo is sent to people across metro
The Fargo Police Department intended the alert to only cover a three block radius in South Fargo, but the alert sent out by Red River Dispatch reached far more people outside of that area.
January 25, 2021
FARGO, N.D. After a man barricaded himself inside his vehicle early Saturday morning in South Fargo, a shelter in place alert went out to people throughout the Cass and Clay counties.
The Fargo Police Department intended the alert to only cover a three block radius in South Fargo, but the alert sent out by Red River Dispatch reached far more people outside of that area.
Introduction
As natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity, communities across the country have sought state policy solutions. Disaster seasons of the last few years have broken records across the board. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and 14 others made 2017 the costliest hurricane season on record. It would also have been the most destructive wildfire season on record, if not for 2018, the nation’s deadliest and most destructive year ever, featuring the deadliest single fire in a century―the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. The mega-fires of 2020 are still fresh in the nation’s mind―a year that gave California five of its six largest fires in state history, Colorado its single largest fire ever, and temporarily propelled air pollution in some cities to among the worst in the world. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation averaged nearly 12 “billion-dollar” disasters annually over the past decade―up from less than f
January 6, 2021
The Cook nuclear power plant’s emergency siren system is being deactivated. That’s because the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division is switching over to two mobile device-based systems to alert people to emergencies and tests. Emergency Management Coordinator Rockey Adams tells WSJM News the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, and B-WARN! will ensure more people will be directly notified of emergencies thanks to cell phones.
“It’ll ring, much as people have become familiar with Amber Alerts that go across their phone,” Adams said. “So you’ll get an annoying tone to get your attention and you’ll get a message as to what to do with that alert.”
Dec 15, 2020
Members of the Gainesville City Council are to hear about the city s modernized emergency alert system this evening.
At 6:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, Dec. 15, the city council is scheduled to meet in the council chambers inside the Municipal Building, 200 S. Rusk St., to hear a report from city of Gainesville Emergency Management spokeswoman Tamara Grimes-Sieger on the city s new Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
IPAWS sends messages to cellphones within the area of an emergency using the same network that is used for Amber Alerts. The alerts will also interrupt broadcasts on radio stations, TV channels and weather radios, according to an archived Register report.