Posted by Jeremy Andrews on July 18, 2015 at 22:14:02:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Local Radio Dead in Racine posted by Country Boy on July 18, 2015 at 21:32:58:
Minot thing was actually a train that derailed releasing toxic chemicals. They tried to acticate the EAS but were unable to.
EAS is the only thing you can really rely on for bad weather, IF the station's EAS box is set to go off for a TOR which WRJN, WVTY, and most every station does.
NOAA Weather Radio should be as common as a smoke alarm.
Local TV does the best they can.
Any other local emergencies are usually handled by the state or local relay. Often a local emergency (Patrick Cudahy fire in 2009) will be transmitted over NWR by request.
Local Access Alerts are a last resort. The local authorities can activate the EAS on a cable system, cutting every channel to a blank screen with an audio message. That is IF the equipment works.
Live and local severe weather coverage still exists but it depends on 1. Time of day, day of week (If this was say 11AM on a weekday, Tom and Ted would be on covering it) and 2. Staff able and willing to go into work to report it. Some smaller stations use Weathereye where they have a remote meteorologist on the air during a severe weather event.