PHOENIX (CBS5) -
The National Weather Service has a great new tool in warning the public - Wireless Emergency Alerts.
Potentially life-threatening weather situations, like flash flood, dust storm and tornado warnings, are now being sent to mobile phones. But like any new technology, they're still working out the bugs.
Such was the case Wednesday night when many of us in the Valley received an alert for a flood situation that was in the Sunflower Burn area, well to our north.
"Because that flash flood warning was issued for a portion of Maricopa County, the way the cell phone providers turned it is basically addressing all the phones or most of the phones that are in the county," said Ken Waters of the Phoenix National Weather Service.
But moving forward, the goal will be to work with the phone providers by narrowing down only the areas that are under the gun.
"We really want to alert the people that are in that affected area. We're not interested in blanketing the whole county," said Waters.
And if you happen to be traveling through Yuma and a warning is issued for that area, the system knows the location of your cell phone and you'll receive that warning.
"What it's all about is that we're into saving lives. And getting the word out," added Waters.
To learn more about Wireless Emergency Alerts, click here.
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