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Houston OEM outlines alert system tiers, urges residents to enroll in Alert Houston and STEER
Summary
Brian Mason, director of the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management, presented the city’s three-tier communications approach—day‑to‑day outreach, enhanced pre‑incident messaging, and federal wireless alerts—reiterating that Alert Houston and STEER require opt‑in while IPAWS/WEA can geotarget phones.
Brian Mason, director of the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management, told the council committee the city uses three tiers of public communication—“blue sky,” “gray sky” and “black sky”—to reach residents before, during and after incidents.
Mason said blue‑sky work is the day‑to‑day preparedness outreach the office performs 365 days a year, including a 2024 website refresh, multilingual content and social media. “You can simply text alert Houston, all 1 word, to 888777, and that will get you into our system,” Mason said, describing how residents enroll in Alert Houston.
The nut graf: Mason said the city supplements ordinary outreach with targeted tools: Alert Houston and the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry (STEER) are opt‑in services for enhanced messaging to enrolled residents, while IPAWS/WEA (the federal…
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