WEA Messages: Impact on Physiological, Emotional, Cognitive and Behavioral Responses

Effective alerts and warnings during a disaster protects people and saves lives. Over the past decade, mobile communication technologies have become ubiquitous. Disaster and emergency messages sent directly to end users has emerged as a promising new practice. In particular, short message service (SMS) text message formats have emerged as a modality that is both practical and popular as the majority of Americans now use smartphones. In regards to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wireless emergency alerts (WEAs), these messages are pushed out through commercial mobile carriers to customers who are located geographically near the hazard, and newer smartphones are ‘WEA enabled.’