Radio's role in times of trouble

[SirRoxalot]

We had a long discussion last winter about how radio responded to the Christmas Blizzard in Buffalo. We had thousands without power for several days in the midst of a major storm. Despite warnings from weather forecasters and TV stations, people still ventured out into killer conditions and died as a result. WBEN treated the storm as a major event and suspended the usual political blather to really serve the public that had limited access to power, internet, and cell service. Questions were asked about why the Emergency Alert System that gives officials at various levels of government wasn't activated to try to impress the public with the gravity of the situation.

The situation was much worse in Maui. It's pretty obvious that officials there failed to inform the public of the gravity of the situation in a timely fashion. There will be a lot said about that in after-action reports. It appears that those officials ignored what became the most viable source of information during the wildfires in spite of efforts of local radio broadcasters to try to pry information out of them. Is it the fault of officials, or the fault of broadcasters to fail to educate them on how wide-reaching and resilient broadcast facilities, particularly radio, are? Here's an interesting discussion of the problem from Fred Jacobs.

Radio and Maui: A Failure To Communicate?

Radio has taken its knocks this past few years, but there's no denying the medium shines extra brightly during disasters. When those cell towers go down and the power goes out, radio is there. But what happens when communications break down during emergencies, and radio finds itself without the...

jacobsmedia.com

 

[PTBoardOp94]

The Jacobs' guest, Mr. Leonard, is out of date about the subject on which he speaks.

His key factual error is that wireless emergency alerts are opt-in. They are in fact on by default, by FCC order, for all phones manufactured after a certain date (I think this was required by the IPAWS modernization act of 2015, but am not sure of the effective date).

On the contrary, broadcast alerts are, by definition, opt-in. I can turn off my radio and television at any time, and at any given moment only a few people are tuned in. Very few households have a receiver that monitors for EAS tones, and those that do are almost always WX Band, which may or may not relay messages from civil authorities (NWS is making equipment upgrades, very slowly, for that purpose)

In the end, the emergency managers should use all available outlets.

But in the specific case of Maui, it seems like their emergency managers ignored everything and everyone, not just radio. Mr. Leonard speaks about wireless emergency alerts, but I am not able to verify that any WEAs were issued for Maui/Lahaina until after the city was burnt.

 

[Larry]

Mr. Leonard speaks about wireless emergency alerts, but I am not able to verify that any WEAs were issued for Maui/Lahaina until after the city was burnt.

My understanding is many cell phone towers were down, power (electricity) was out so except for those with battery and crank operated radios mass I’ve also read English was not the first/primary language for many living in the area. So mass communications were largely not available. Except for the warning horns which were not used.

 

[TheBigA]

His key factual error is that wireless emergency alerts are opt-in. They are in fact on by default, by FCC order, for all phones manufactured after a certain date (I think this was required by the IPAWS modernization act of 2015, but am not sure of the effective date).

Most of the law is directed at FEMA. However, I am able to turn off all notifications in my iPhone 15.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1180

 

[tbolt909]

The Buffalo Blizzard was forecast several days in advance by reputable weather experts. People who were paying attention should have heeded the warnings. Unfortunately, some of the folks who lived in poverty are the ones who died. Others simply made poor choices by travelling when they shouldn't have.

The Lahaina fire spread quickly in the middle of the night.
These two events are not comparable. People in Hawaii had to jump into the ocean to avoid the flames. People in Buffalo should have been safe at home. The Blame Game is inevitable whenever these catastrophic events happen. Some lawyers will try to find a big payday. Climate Change isn't pretty and we're seeing the grim effects...

 

[PTBoardOp94]

However, I am able to turn off all notifications in my iPhone 15.

Yes, you can turn them off. But Apple is required to turn them on by default. This is known as "opt-out", the antonym of "opt-in", the term Mr. Leonard used in the interview.

My understanding is many cell phone towers were down, power (electricity) was out

Right, that could have stopped many, perhaps most, people from receiving the alert. However, there was no way for emergency managers to know exactly how well the cell network was operating at any given minute. Their proper action would have been to send an alert anyway. If 20% of the town receives it, fine. If 70% receives it, even better.

 

[SirRoxalot]

What several of you seem to be ignoring is that hundreds, if not thousands of people in the affected area were in their cars trying to find an escape route. In many cases they had no idea which way to go and actually started off driving toward the fire. If officials had utilized radio, especially in conjunction with the sirens, and had established emergency procedures that advised residents to tune into local radio as a backup to the phone notifications, lives may have been saved. Emergency procedures that ignore the EAN system and broadcast facilities are ignoring perhaps the most reliable way of disseminating information in extreme emergencies. Most people have access to a car, and in an emergency like a wildfire head for their vehicles it's apparent that it's getting close.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

A number of accounts of this tragedy, including a few blog accounts from survivors, have been published. They're heartbreaking.

While many residents mentioned the suspected cause of the fire to be downed high power wires, they also point to issues and developments that were ignored by authorities. The fire emergency was exacerbated by reduced water pressure in the lines needed to fight the fires, including outright ignorance by emergency officials. There are two points that seem to predominate: Those who attempted to flee by car were trapped in a road maze made worse by smoke and intense heat, and traffic congestion within a small geographic area. Some people abandoned their cars and literally ran for their lives toward the water, sometimes runing through flames to get to the water. Others perished trapped in or near their cars and homes.

This begs the question, would radio have made any difference? If people don't believe in radio as a "go to" source of information, is radio the culprit? Has radio become so outmoded that people no longer resort to it? Such may not have been the case in Buffalo with last year's intense snowfalls in November and December, but we here may be of a different mindset than those in Maui.

Did those who faced the flames even consider resorting to the radio for guidance, direction and information. The follow-up question would be, especially as this thread is concerned, how much guidance was available and to what extent was it broadcast by the radio stations?

 

[tbolt909]

What several of you seem to be ignoring is that hundreds, if not thousands of people in the affected area were in their cars trying to find an escape route. In many cases they had no idea which way to go and actually started off driving toward the fire.

Have you seen a map? You cannot drive off the island. The fire moved at incredible speed blocking the main route. Any information that a Radio announcer could have provided would have been valueless as conditions deteriorated. One survivor told his story on NPR. He was instructed by a 911 operator to jump into the water at the harbour. That's how bad conditions were.

The fire escalated so fast that people wouldn't have been looking for a Radio. Some have said that the warning sirens should have sounded, but opinions differ on whether that would have helped anyone. As noted, some fled into the direction of the fire. If the sirens had sounded, some would have gone right into the fire. When you're literally running for your life, you won't be listening to the Radio.

Many factors led to this tragic fire. Abnormally dry conditions on the island and hurricane force winds fanning the flames. Over the years, non native grasses have been brought to Hawaii. It's tragic. Radio can report on the outcome, but wouldn't have been useful DURING the fire...

 

[SirRoxalot]

Have you seen a map? You cannot drive off the island. The fire moved at incredible speed blocking the main route. Any information that a Radio announcer could have provided would have been valueless as conditions deteriorated. One survivor told his story on NPR. He was instructed by a 911 operator to jump into the water at the harbour. That's how bad conditions were.

The fire escalated so fast that people wouldn't have been looking for a Radio. Some have said that the warning sirens should have sounded, but opinions differ on whether that would have helped anyone. As noted, some fled into the direction of the fire. If the sirens had sounded, some would have gone right into the fire. When you're literally running for your life, you won't be listening to the Radio.

Many factors led to this tragic fire. Abnormally dry conditions on the island and hurricane force winds fanning the flames. Over the years, non native grasses have been brought to Hawaii. It's tragic. Radio can report on the outcome, but wouldn't have been useful DURING the fire...

If EAN had been activated, EVERY radio station would have had emergency information that would have told people WHERE to go and NOT to run into the fire. How many lives might have been saved if people hadn't gone in the wrong direction in the first place?

Your antipathy to radio is unfounded according to every study in existence that shows that radio still earns nearly 90% of the audience at some time during the week. When you have no other form of communication available it is still likely the medium of last resort for people who have a radio available if for no other reason than IT'S STILL THERE. Radio COULD have been useful during the fire if officials had gotten the information out in a timely fashion. How inept the officials were in this emergency will be a long and difficult discussion. Why the original brush fire was allowed to rekindle will haunt a lot of people and will send legions of lawyers into a frenzy. If accurate information had gotten to the public before it was too late a lot of lives could have been saved.