TV switches itself on to alert owners to disasters, terrorism

Concerned that too many people lose their lives in severe weather strikes overnight, a Tornado Alley weather forecaster is happy to see the development of a television that will wake people up if danger is on the way.

USA Today

"What’s kind of disappointing is that warnings are in effect but people don’t know about them," said John Robinson, the severe warning coordinator for the National Weather Service office at North Little Rock.

Last month, an elderly Faulkner County woman was killed when a tornado demolished her home while she was taking a nap. Two years ago, three people were killed in a twister that hit Wilmot at 1 a.m. In a 1999 tornado outbreak in and around Little Rock, six of the storm’s eight fatalities occurred after sunset.

"People will tell me that ‘I watch so-and-so and he’ll tell me if a tornado is coming,’ " Robinson said. "Well, once you turn off that TV, so-and-so can’t tell you that."

But come June, a television can.

At this month’s International Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas, RCA unveiled a television set that will turn itself on and make a racket if any of an assortment of disasters are declared, including about 30 types of weather emergencies.

"About three years ago, from a personal standpoint, I was involved in a tornado in the Atlanta metro area and had the idea" of consolidating a TV with an emergency radio, said John Merrell, the project, concept and development manager for RCA’s Alert Guard television.

Others at Thomson Consumer Electronics, RCA’s parent company, had had similar ideas and Merrell was named to lead a team that would build a television that could notify people of possible danger even if they weren’t glued to the tube at the time.

When a special receiver built into the television receives an emergency signal, it will take over the television to a level pre-set by the owner.

Some may want only to read from a series of green, yellow, orange or red lights on the front of the television, while others may want the alert unit to take over the screen’s video. Also available is a soft chime that gets gradually louder, a broadcast from the local National Weather Service office, or a European-style siren that can reach the TV’s maximum audio level.

"You can do any of those in combination or turn all of them off," which is not recommended, said Merrell, whose home was damaged in the Atlanta storm but whose family was safe after receiving about six minutes’ notice about the twister.

About 1,200 tornadoes a year strike the United States, with the bulk of them in an area known as Tornado Alley that extends from Texas northward through the Great Plains and east to the corn belt. Texas has about 150 tornadoes a year, Oklahoma 65 and Kansas 60.

In a recent compilation of tornado statistics by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., Arkansas was 16th in the number of tornadoes but third in the number of fatalities, behind Texas and Mississippi.

In the new RCA sets — from 20 inches to 32 inches — with the separate receiver, it doesn’t matter if the television is off or whether it is tuned to a local channel, cable or a satellite signal.

Jennifer Gordon, the spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, also likes the idea of an instant-on TV warning.

"It’s very important for Arkansans to have more than just one way of being notified about tornadoes," she said. "The outdoor warning sirens are just that, for outdoors. You may not hear them if you’re inside with the air conditioner running."

To supplement local TV and radio stations, the emergency management agency suggests people also have weather radios that include warning tones. "In Arkansas, it’s as important as a smoke detector," she said.

Emergency officials were concerned that the television sets, as initially developed, did not include a battery backup.

"A lot of times, the power goes out because we have a lot of lightning in our severe storms and, if the power goes out, you won’t get the warnings," Gordon said. Robinson agreed.

But Merrell said that by the time televisions hit the market in early June, concerns over a battery backup will be addressed. The remedy should be announced in May, he said.

Robinson said the televisions could help spare lives, particularly with nighttime storms. People awake during the day can sense the sky darkening and look outside to see what’s going on. At night time, that perception disappears.

"Two-thirds of our tornadoes last year (in Arkansas) occurred after dark," he said.

Merrell estimates that the new technology will add about $50 to the price of a TV, though the cost is really up to retailers. A 20-inch flat screen TV with other crisp features will probably run around $299, he said.

Initially, the televisions were designed to carry weather warnings and local civil-defense alerts. After Sept. 11, receivers were designed to accept dozens more local alert codes that can be used for nuclear emergencies, gas leaks, chemical spills and terrorist alerts.

"With the federal government and the nation as a whole, the mood changed and the alert system developed into a more expanded system," Merrell said from Indianapolis, where RCA is based. There are 30 possible weather alerts and more than 70 for other types of emergencies, Merrell said.

"The number of people who live in the United States who are regularly subject to one type of disaster or another runs into the millions," said James Harper, an RCA spokesman. And with the television also able to pick up terror alerts, that’s "one reason why the timing of this product is so good."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techreviews/products/2003-01-24-tv-warning_x.htm

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press