EU-alerts: they’re a climate emergency wakeup call
On Sunday around 14:30 in Madrid people in much of Spain were startled to hear an alert tone on our cellphones with a text message from Civil Protection warning us of extreme storms and rain, asking us not to use our vehicles and to stay at home.
The rain and storms caused problems in some areas of Madrid and in eleven other autonomous communities throughout Spain over the following hours, but for many people, the warning itself was of more interest, and they took to social networks to discuss how, for example, Civil Protection had their phone number. As far as I know, this was the first such alert for real following a limited test in June in some areas.
ES-Alert is part of a Europe-wide system, EU-Alert, based on cell broadcasting, capable of sending a message to all devices in a given area defined by the range of a series of antennas. To everyone, including visitors who have never provided their phone data to any Spanish authority, which is why the warning also appeared in English. ES-Alert warnings are received by all devices at the same time and has a unique ring tone which sounds even if the terminal is muted or with the volume set to minimum. This is an alert system that can be activated to warn of possible emergencies, and that in no way violates anyone’s privacy.
