FCC receives 4.6K complaints, comments from Texans following Oct. 4 Blue Alert

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had received approximately 4,600 consumer complaints or comments as of Tuesday after the Oct. 4 Blue Alert was issued to Texans early that morning.

The FCC is part of a team of U.S. agencies that maintain the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are the main components of the national public warning system. The other agencies include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS).

Blue Alerts were added to the EAS in December 2017 following an amendment to the FCC’s Rules Regarding Emergency Alert Systems. The FCC said the alerts can be used by state and local authorities to notify people of threats to law enforcement and to help arrest suspects.

According to the Texas Department of Publis Safety (DPS), the state’s Blue Alerts should only be issued between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. However, the hours of alerts issued by Texas regional alert networks could differ. The Oct. 4 Blue Alert was sent before 5 a.m.

DPS said Blue Alert requests are sent in from regional programs or DPS to the Texas Division of Emergency Management who then sends the requests to FEMA.

Blue Alert notifications, similar to an AMBER Alert, can be adjusted on your iPhone and Android devices. However, users should consider changing the noise settings versus removing the alerts entirely.

The FCC said the alerts are “an essential part of America’s emergency preparedness. Since its launch in 2012, the (Wireless Emergency Alerts) system has been used more than 84,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations.”

Anthony Torres contributed to this report.