Alert & Warning

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Success in saving lives and property is dependent upon clear and timely dissemination of emergency information to persons in threatened areas. Pierce County Emergency Management has various systems in place to ensure that residents are notified in the event of a small or major emergency.

These systems include:

Pierce County ALERT


Pierce County ALERT is a free service that allows you to sign up and receive notifications about emergencies that may affect the locations you care about. This service allows fire, police and other agencies dealing with emergency response to send out accurate and up-to-date information that they feel residents should be informed on.

Receive alerts on up to 10 different devices such as your cell phone, home phone, email, and more. Choose up to five locations you want to be notified about such as your residence, workplace, children’s school and more.

Mount Rainier Lahar Warning Sirens


The Mount Rainier Lahar Siren project is part of an overall emergency communications system for Pierce County. The focus for the sirens is to warn the residents in the Puyallup River Valley of the need to evacuate due to a volcanic disaster from the Mount Rainier Volcano.

When imminent volcanic danger threatens, the sirens will be activated. Citizens will be advised to evacuate the valley floor and head to higher ground by vehicle or foot. The outdoor lahar warning sirens are tested at noon on the first Monday of every month. The sirens will wail for approximately two to five minutes during the testing. They will continue to cycle on and off during a real alert.

Emergency Alert System


The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of the many means used by alerting authorities to send warnings via broadcast, cable, satellite and wire line communications pathways. The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are unavailable, providing an added layer of resiliency to the suite of available emergency communication tools.

NOAA All Hazard Weather Radio


The NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) system is an "All Hazards" radio network, making it your single source for comprehensive weather and all hazard emergency information. In conjunction with federal, state and local emergency managers and other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards, including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills) and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).

Commercial Mobile Alert System


Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) is a partnership between FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and wireless carriers to enhance public safety. CMAS allows public safety authorities to use FEMA’s IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN) to send geographically targeted, text-like Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to the public.

WEAs will relay presidential, AMBER and imminent threat alerts to mobile phones using cellular broadcast technology that will not get backlogged during times of emergency when wireless voice and data services are highly congested.

AM 1580 Emergency Radio System


The AM 1580 Emergency Radio is an All Hazard information tool used in the Puyallup River Valley portion of Pierce County. This tool will be used for Mount Rainier volcanic hazards as well as any local or regional emergencies where it is beneficial to transmit information to residents. This Emergency Information Radio Station can be heard from the City of Orting, through the Puyallup River Valley to the City of Fife.

See Something, Say Something


Report suspicious activity to local law enforcement or call 9-1-1 if it is an emergency. Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of the many means used by alerting authorities to send warnings via broadcast, cable, satellite and wire line communications pathways. The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are unavailable, providing an added layer of resiliency to the suite of available emergency communication tools.

Integrated Public Alert and Warning System


FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) program provides an internet-based capability for federal, state, territorial, tribal and local authorities to use in order to issue critical public alerts and warnings.

IPAWS improves alert and warning capabilities by allowing alerting authorities to deliver their message from a single portal to multiple communication pathways. Two of these pathways are The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).