New York and Washington, D.C. are organizing the Commercial Mobile Alert System, which will direct emergency messages to cellphones in case of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other emergencies.
This system could have been put to use last year to warn New Yorkers of the destructive tornadoes that hit Brooklyn and Queens.
There will be three levels of messages, ranging from a critical national alert from the president to warnings about impending or occurring national disasters to alerts about missing or abducted children. People will be able to opt out of receiving all but the presidential alerts. Read the full article »