City of Austin

The City of Austin’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (Austin HSEM) successfully tested the City’s alerting authority in the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) on Monday afternoon.

A Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS) test message went out with representatives from FEMA, Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties, Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG), and Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) on hand to observe Austin HSEM’s first successful test of IPAWS.

“We are happy with our first successful test of IPAWS,” said Austin HSEM Chief Administrative Officer Sara Henry. “This is a new capability the City has to alert not only our community members but visitors and travelers to our area during emergencies. I’m thankful to our staff and partners for their training and months of planning that got us to this point.”

IPAWS is a federally regulated system that allows jurisdictions to contact the public via cell phone towers, television, and radio without requiring subscribing to a service. IPAWS uses Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to contact cell phones within a geotargeted area. It also can send messages to televisions and radio stations via Emergency Alerts System (EAS).

To receive IPAWS messages via WEA, individuals must ensure they have government alerts turned on in their mobile device’s notifications settings. Texas leads the nation in percentage of population that has opted out of receiving these potentially lifesaving alerts. Austin HSEM highly encourages everyone to make sure they have these alerts turned on because staying informed during an emergency is one of the most crucial steps in emergency preparedness.

For more information about IPAWS and Austin becoming an alerting authority visit ReadyCentralTexas.org.