Emergency Alert System

The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997 (approved by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1994), when it replaced the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), which in turn replaced the CONELRAD System. The official EAS is designed to enable the President of the United States to speak to the United States within 10 minutes. In addition to this requirement, the EAS is also designed to alert the public to various disasters.

The EAS is jointly coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EAS regulations and standards are governed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC.

Authorized organizations are able to disseminate and coordinate emergency alerts and warning messages through EAS and other public systems by means of IPAWS. EAS messages are transmitted primarily via terrestrial and satellite radio and television (including broadcast and multichannel television), which are required to participate in the system. Wireless Emergency Alerts are a secondary system using Cell Broadcast to relay public alerts to cellphones.

The Emergency Alert System is heard in the background during the early stages of the outbreak. However, after a period of twenty four days, the system is on a loop and broadcasting no new information, indicating that whatever communication the Federal Government had had become inoperative.