Did you know that WTCI and PBS play a crucial role in protecting our community by ensuring uninterrupted distribution of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), including severe weather warnings and AMBER alerts? This service is part of our commitment to strengthening safety across the Tennessee Valley.

PBS WARN (Warning, Alert, Response Network) uses PBS’s unique reach, reliability, and local connections across America to provide a vital backup path for the WEA system, which allows local, state and national government agencies (like FEMA) to instantly send short message warnings from geo-targeted cell phone towers directly to a nearby user's mobile device.

If a cybersecurity incident or internet disruption to a carrier facility breaks its primary connection to FEMA, PBS WARN provides an immediate alternate source of inbound WEA messages.

See PBS WARN in action! The map below shows all active WEAs in the US, which WARN is broadcasting in real time.

PBS WARN is funded by a Department of Commerce grant through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

For more information, contact the PBS WARN team at warn@pbs.org.