Emergency alertsEmergency notifications will soon be issued through The Weather Channel

The Weather Company will soon issue emergency notifications to millions of U.S. residents before, during, and after disasters occur via a large-scale distribution network linked to its media properties and weather expertise. In 2013, The Weather Company sent more than 150,000 weather alerts to 66 percent of U.S. adults. Its mobile application is the second most downloaded iPad app in history, and the fifth most downloaded app on the iPhone.

Government Technology reports that today, the company is forming partnerships with city and state emergency managers to build a localized alerting platform for state, local, and private emergency agencies to manage and distribute alerts via The Weather Channel, weather.com, and existing local distribution points.

Currently, many local emergency agencies build their own alert systems, but even then, low adoption rates among citizens diminish the effectiveness and benefits of private systems. New York City operates its version of the 311 app, used by other cities across the country, to notify residents of emergencies. New York’s 311 app has only been downloaded by roughly 50,000 people — a low penetration rate considering the city boasts a population of eight million people.

The proposed system which will be piloted by the end of 2014, offers a simple, low cost, universal platform that allows municipalities to integrate alerts to Web and mobile properties including Facebook andTwitter, thereby gaining more subscribers.

“The U.S. offers its citizens some of the best emergency alerting capabilities in the world,” said Bryson Koehler, executive vice president and CIO of The Weather Company, referring to the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) national emergency coverage through alerts and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS). “But most communities currently do not have a local alerting system to integrate with IPAWS. As a result, many alerts cover large areas or do not provide the types of local details that can best serve the public,” Koehler said.

The proposed system will allow local emergency managers to determine the importance of weather events to their residents. Officials will be able to update residents on relevant issues like road closures during emergencies and how weather conditions may impact local traffic and events. “The new alert system will allow a local emergency manager to see if there is a severe thunderstorm headed their way that may necessitate a road closure, for example, and enable them to provide notice to the public before they are actually impacted,” said Jason Geer, director of product management and alerting for The Weather Company.