Matagorda County and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) officials have worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to bring IPAWS technology to the county.
FEMA created the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to reach people in a more direct way for emergency communications, the EOC said in a press release Monday, Nov. 8.
One of the primary benefits of the IPAWS system is the use of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), said Emergency Management Coordinator Amanda Campos.
WEAs are short emergency messages from authorized federal, state, local public alerting authorities that can be broadcast from cell towers to mobile devices in a locally targeted area.
Many people already have received a WEA on their cell phone.
Amber Alerts and Tornado Warnings that appear on cell phones following an alarm sound are WEAs used to reach Texans through their mobile devices, Campos said.
One major change the new IPAWS will bring to Matagorda County will be removing the siren network in the area surrounding the South Texas Project (STP).
The siren system will be retired next year following the IPAWS system implementation, Campos said.
After that, WEAs will be used by the county to alert residents in any emergency situation in the area around the South Texas Project,
Local warnings from county and city officials now will be possible.
The siren network was a great tool to warn people during emergency situations, but it is time to upgrade to the best use technology, Campos said.
“The idea of using the latest and best technology to protect the citizens and visitors of Matagorda County is the right thing to do, and this is the right time to make the change,” Campos added.
“The goal of the Emergency Operations Center is the health and safety of every citizen and visitor to our county; the Public Alert Systems will allow us to protect the public in a more direct way,” said County Judge Nate McDonald.
This technology will speed up safety communication by reaching people faster, no matter where they are or what is happening, Campos said.
“This tool will allow city officials to send messages to selected areas of the city or we can provide a message city wide. This gives us the flexibility we need to keep the public safe and informed,” Bay City Mayor Robert Nelson said.
Palacios Mayor Linh Chau said, “Bringing this advanced technology to the Palacios community is important for me and my staff.
“Our location along the Gulf Coast can bring sudden weather conditions, with this tool we can get our citizens informed and allow us to warn them in advance of an unsafe situation.”
Campos said there will be more information and details as the county gets closer to implementing this project.
