Oct. 3, 2018 EAS Presidential Alert test

bzs at theworld.com bzs at theworld.com
Sun Oct 7 19:23:33 UTC 2018


Re: EAS alert, people not being reached

That was one advantage of the old air raid siren system, it was
difficult to ignore and required nothing special to receive (hearing
impaired excepted.)

I recall in NYC as a kid you were expected (maybe legally required,
not sure) to head off the streets and to the nearest shelter. And
people did. If you were a wise guy teen and didn't and a cop saw you
you'd get an earful (don't ask me how I know this.)

Some areas particularly near the shore have similar siren systems.

Probably a bigger issue which isn't as apparent from a test is do
people have any reasonable options even if they are completely aware
that negotiations with the UFOs have collapsed and the death rays have
started?

In the days when nuclear attack was more likely we'd often say that
it's all well and good to be alerted but seriously wtf are we supposed
to do (duck and cover!)? Beyond "better than nothing!"?

Granted for some proportion of the population a half-baked response is
a lot better than none. If you're likely 2+ miles from a 1MT nuclear
air burst just going into your cellars and away from windows (flying
glass and debris) would probably save most of those lives and much
injury at least from the initial blast.

So, EAS alert may be better than nothing for many but some enumeration
of why one might get one and what would be a reasonable reaction to
each case would be useful.

Otherwise it's just "ALERT! YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE!" Ok...

Of course for many here it might mean "switch to alternate power
source immediately".

-- 
        -Barry Shein

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