WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — With hurricane season approaching, officials are urging people to get signed up for those potentially life-saving weather alerts.
Meanwhile, new artificial intelligence technology is coming to Palm Beach County that experts say will more effectively alert residents in the path of a storm.
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"I don't think there's another state in the nation where emergency alerting is as important as it is in the state of Florida," Dr. Randy Wright, the executive director of the Division of Media Properties at the University of Florida, said.
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As weather alerts are changing, Wright explained how the new ground-breaking technology, known as the Broadcast Emergency Alerts and Communication Operations Network (BEACON), works.
Driven by AI, it provides an "always-on, text-to-speech platform and automates the broadcasting of critical safety and emergency information in multiple languages before, during and after a disaster."
"BEACON is a really unique and innovative tool that's designed to work for, and with, the official government agencies that actually do the alerting," Wright said.
WPTV investigative reporter Kate Hussey first told us about BEACON in February, after some residents in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast reported missing tornado alerts or receiving them too late.
"Many times, if you hear an alert that comes as an EAS alert, whether it's on television, radio or a wireless emergency alert, that alert will come down one time," Wright said.
Wright explained that BEACON is designed to work when the power is out or when networks fail.
"It's simply taking the information that's coming from these official government agencies, and then it voices these alerts and then it provides the 24-hour, seven days a week radio channel that people can listen to on the local radio frequency," Wright said.
BEACON is a collaboration with the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He said the alerts can be heard through local radio systems, mobile apps, and through streaming, even for those who might be evacuating.
The BEACON website said the system "enhances existing alerting methods by constantly updating its feeds, a feature not currently available anywhere else."
"Having as many tools to be able to deliver emergency messaging is really critical," Wright said.
BEACON is already available in different cities in the state, including Gainesville.
It is set to launch in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Naples and Fort Lauderdale within the next three months.
