|
Pictured above: MCEM's Kirsten Kuppenbender prepares to
send the test emergency alert.
On August 14th at 2:00 p.m., Multnomah County’s Office of Emergency Management (MCEM) successfully conducted the County’s first live test of the national Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system.
The test was conducted to understand the message delivery end to end of the WEA system in Multnomah county, including overspray into neighboring counties. Until this test, there was only speculation both locally and at the state level on the reach of WEAs in this geographically complex environment.
Additionally, recent disasters in Hawaii, Los Angeles County, and Texas that drew attention to challenges and failures to successfully utilize the WEA system reinforced the need for Multnomah County to conduct a test to ensure it is capable and prepared to send important alerts to affected community members.
While it’s not possible to know exactly how many people received the alert, we estimate that it reached between 800,000 and one million people in and travelling through the County.
We received nearly 8,000 responses to the survey that was included in the message. The results strongly indicate that the alert was highly localized, with approximately 91% of respondents reporting they were in Multnomah county. This suggests a successful targeting of the intended geographical area, with minimal "overspray" into adjacent counties. While some responses from neighboring counties like Clackamas and Washington were recorded, the numbers were significantly lower, supporting the conclusion of limited alert dissemination beyond the borders of Multnomah county.
Regarding the technical aspects of the alert reception, we received responses from people using both iOS (Apple) and Android operating systems. The diversity of cell phone carriers further illustrates the broad reach of the alert. In addition to major networks like T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, a substantial number of respondents reported about 30 other virtual mobile network operators, like Mint or Xfinity, as their wireless provider.
We also know that many people inside Multnomah County who should have received the alert did not, so we also published a survey for people who did not receive the alert to complete. We received a total of 324 responses.
A significant majority of non-recipients were in or near the City of Portland or in other urban areas of Multnomah County. Only 10% were in rural unincorporated areas. This distribution suggests that for most respondents, non-receipt was likely due to device notification settings rather than transmission issues, especially in urban centers with good cell tower coverage.
We anticipated challenges in rural areas due to suboptimal coverage, despite limited responses from those areas. We know from survey responses and informal checks with local residents and businesses that places like Corbett, Sauvie Island, and parts of the West Hills, did not receive the alert.
The results for operating systems and device make/model were similar to those from individuals who did receive the alert. This reinforces the conclusion that these factors are not significant in determining alert receipt within the targeted area. The diversity of subscriber networks among non-recipients, mirroring those who received the alert, indicates that the carrier is likely not a significant factor in alert delivery.
Over three-quarters of respondents were unsure if they had opted out of any alert types. Nearly 60% were unsure if they had any specific alert notification settings, like “always alert” or “always play sound” toggled on, which would override any “Do Not Disturb” or “Focus” settings.
The analysis suggests that the primary reasons for not receiving the WEA test alert are more likely related to individual device notification settings (particularly opting out of certain alert types, or having "Do Not Disturb" active without override settings), and less so to factors like operating system, device make or model, or cellular carrier.
The high percentage of respondents unsure about their alert settings points to a lack of user familiarity with these options, suggesting an opportunity for public education on managing WEA settings. While location plays a role in signal strength (especially in rural areas), the majority of non-recipients in urban areas further emphasizes the importance of device-level settings.
There was also some confusion on the difference between the national WEA system, which does not require any registration, and our opt-in community emergency notification system known as PublicAlerts. We received several emails following the alert from people who did not receive it and either wanted to register their numbers or were confused why they had signed up for PublicAlerts but did not receive this alert.
This shows that continuous education is needed not only to sign people up for PublicAlerts as the best way to receive emergency communications from Emergency Management, but also to familiarize residents and visitors with all of the communication tools we use during emergencies.
All in all, this test was a success for us, validating our capabilities while also pointing to things we can do to improve how we communicate with the public to convey critical information during disasters.
If you would like to sign up for or check that your contact information is up to date in PublicAlerts, just click on the link and navigate to Multnomah County’s member portal page. For more information on WEAs, check our FAQ page.
| 
