Wyandotte County rolls out IPAWS and Everbridge to expand emergency alerts
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Summary
Emergency Management briefed commissioners on a layered alert approach using FEMA's IPAWS and Everbridge; staff said a March tornado warning test reached tens of thousands via Everbridge and IPAWS, and they fixed a short Everbridge delay discovered during the test.
Wyandotte County's emergency management office described a two‑layer approach to public warnings that combines IPAWS (FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System) with Everbridge, a subscription‑based mass‑notification tool.
Michael Pratt, the Emergency Management data and technology manager, said IPAWS reaches anyone within a National Weather Service polygon who has wireless emergency alerts enabled, while Everbridge reaches subscribers and sends texts, calls and app notifications. Pratt said the county obtained FEMA authorization (a memorandum of understanding) to use IPAWS and linked Everbridge to that capability. He described the March 6 tornado‑warning event: Everbridge sent about 90,000 messages (most unconfirmed) and IPAWS broadcast the federal cell‑phone alert; staff discovered an Everbridge setting that introduced a roughly three‑minute delay and fixed it after the event.
Tarwater and Pratt emphasized layered alerts (sirens, radio/TV, IPAWS, Everbridge and volunteers) and geofencing to target messages to affected areas. They recommended residents enable Wireless Emergency Alerts and subscribe to Everbridge for more tailored messages; the presentation was informational only and required no committee action.
