As many people saw, Washington State was ravaged by wildfires in July, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of forest. Officials estimate the damage at six times the average annual area normally damaged by wildfire.
Stevens County – a Hyper-Reach client – was spared fatalities, in part, thanks to an effective evacuation campaign, aided by the new FEMA Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, which is part FEMA’s IPAWS system.
The fire was the first time Stevens County public safety officials have used the Wireless Emergency Alert system, in addition to phone calls and texts sent by Hyper-Reach. One advantage of the WEA system is that it reaches “wireless-only” households, where more than 40% of Washington State residents live.
The Hyper-Reach system enables public safety personnel to send WEA and other emergency alerts through the same standardized interface. To find out more about how Hyper-Reach can enable emergency officials to access IPAWS, go to www.hyper-reach.com
