West Virginia Spring Severe Weather Awareness Week: Emergency Alert Systems

Bradley Wells
·5 min read

Your Weather Ready Nation Ambassador weather team, StormTracker 59, is once again participating in a week-long Severe Weather Awareness event hosted by the National Weather Service – Charleston. During this week long special we hope to help in being prepared for severe weather. Something we see year long, every year here in our region.

For Tuesday, March 19th, we look at alerts and emergency kits:

Alerts

When severe weather strikes, it’s important to have a reliable way to have alerts sent to you.

There are several alerts that can be sent and some examples are:

  • National emergency (Presidential Order)

  • Amber & Silver Alerts (Local/National)

  • Imminent threats (National/Local Threat)

  • Weather threat (Regional/Local)

For our purposes during Severe Weather Awareness Week, we’ll be focusing on weather alerts and there are two ways alerts alerts can be sent, depending on where and what devices you are using.

  • A Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) is a short emergency alert that send out pertinent weather information such as a watch or warning for your area to a WEA-enabled phone. They look like text messages but are designed to get your attention with a unique sound and vibration repeated twice. Keep in mind that any person that has a WEA-enabled phone can receive WEAs but the participation of that is voluntary, meaning that you will need to make sure they are enabled on your phone or your service provider is participating.

  • The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that enables the delivery of important emergency such as weather watches and warnings through broadcast TV, such as here at WVNS-TV, radio, satellite digital audio services, direct broadcast satellite providers, cable television systems and wireless cable systems.

Have you ever seen our ticker display a Flood Watch or a Severe Thunderstorm Warning or other type of watch or warning while a program is being aired on our station? That’s an example of EAS in action!

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In addition to having a way to receive WEAs or EASs, it’s also a great idea to have a NOAA weather radio in your house in case you lose electric or encounter a weather emergency. These radios are specifically designed to tune into the nationwide network of radio stations that are continually broadcasting critical weather information from your local National Weather Service office.

It is recommend that you have multiple ways of receiving weather alerts. Important watch and warning information will always be displayed on 59 News with our news ticker, and our meteorologists will keep you updated on severe weather as it happens and potential incoming severe weather – our number one job is to keep you and your family safe from severe weather!

Our StormTracker 59 app, completely free on the Apple and Google Play store will enable you to set up your location to where you receive pertinent weather alert information for your specific area.

Note: The West Virginia Statewide Tornado Drill will take place March 20th, 2024 at 11 AM.

This is a great opportunity to practice in case of a real tornado. What should you do if a tornado warning is issued for your area?

  • Head to your ‘safe place’: If you have a house with a basement, the basement is your safest option because it is located downstairs. If you don’t have a basement, head to the most interior room with as little windows as possible.

  • Put on your safety gear: Have a helmet and protective footwear, like boots, ready at your safe place.

  • Have your emergency kit ready: Be sure that your emergency kit is updated and ready for you to use! More on that below:

Emergency Kits

In case of severe weather, it’s a good idea to build an emergency kit! This kit can come in handy in case of an emergency, where you may need to survive on your own for up to several days. An emergency kit is a collection of basic items in your house that will help you during an emergency.

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To build your kit, put your items in a couple of easy-to-carry containers, like a plastic bin.

A few recommended items:

  • Water (One gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation)

  • Food (enough non-perishable food to last several days)

  • NOAA weather radio

  • Flashlight

  • First aid kit

  • Batteries

  • Whistle or air horn (to signal for help)

  • Mask (such as a dust mask to help filter contaminated air)

  • Duct tape (in case of shelter-in-place)

  • Boots

  • Helmet (protects your head in case of extreme weather, such as a tornado)

  • Moist towelettes (for personal sanitation)

  • Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

  • Manual can opener

  • Local maps

  • Cell phone chargers

Don’t forget about other more personalized items that suit your specific needs. Don’t forget to think about things such as prescription medications, pet food, infant formula, important family documents, and hygiene products, among other items.

Store your kit in a dry place and re-think your needs every year and update your it, especially if your family’s needs change. Don’t forget to replace expired items as needed and keep canned food in a cool, dry place.

The StormTracker 59 team has you covered to help keep you and your family safe when the threat for severe weather is possible! There are multiple ways of staying up to date with us on the latest warnings for our region that would indicate this potential threat:

  • On air on WVNS-TV 59 on CBS at 5 AM, 6 AM, 12 PM, 5 PM, 6 PM and 11 PM Monday through Friday and 6 PM and 11 PM on the weekends.

  • On air on WVNS-TV 59 on Fox at 7AM Monday through Friday and every day at 10 PM.

  • Online on our website here, where you can see the latest watches, warnings, forecast discussions, videos, current data and so much more!

  • The StormTracker 59 mobile app, free on the Apple and Google Play.

  • The StormTracker 59 Facebook page and Twitter page.

After the storm, when safe to do so, your voice, photos, and video can be some of the best resources your local, state, and federal meteorologists have in determining what caused storm damage. It can even be the only look we have at what is going on at ground level when severe weather strikes. For StormTracker 59 we make sharing these easy via social media, email at weather@wvnstv.com, or our community photo album on our website. Weather Together is free and easy to share photos with us and your community. Try it out for yourself here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.