Can you hear the emergency alert now? People with lousy cell service raise concerns

Some residents of Thurston County are worried they don’t have adequate cell service to send or receive emergency messages.

One Cooper Point resident recently told The Olympian, “Sometimes there’s like two bars of service but then it drops to zero mid call. Sometimes if you’re in a parking lot or clearing, it’s better reception. But even then, it’s only like two bars. Never the full four or five Gs.”

The same person said their neighbors experience similar troubles.

“I have had lots of people in the neighborhood plead with me to borrow my phone so they could reach a friend or check bus schedules since their phone service wasn’t working. I had to tell them mine didn’t work either.”

On the other side of the county, in Yelm’s Clearwood community, some residents have been pushing for a new cell tower for years.

One resident said on the Yelm SE Cell Tower Facebook page, “During any emergency Yelm SE residents have had, from vehicle troubles to health conditions, they have said not being able to call 911 was an issue. When calling without cell service (SOS feature), they said the 911 dispatch couldn’t hear them, or they couldn’t hear the dispatch.”

Ahead of fire season, the lack of cell signal in pockets of Thurston County could pose a risk for those living in fire-prone areas.

County efforts to improve system

Thurston County Emergency Management officials say a contract with AT&T FirstNet is providing stronger coverage to first responders in key rural areas.

“We know that Cooper Point, as well as south county Bald Hills area has extremely spotty cell coverage at times,” said Ben Miller-Todd, the county’s director of emergency services.

“We know that the contract with AT&T called First Net has helped to bolster some of the infrastructure within our lacking regions, and that just takes time to implement, but we are seeing some benefits with that FirstNet contract that’s helping to bolster not only first responder cell coverage, but also the cell coverage for any of the residents in those areas.”

The county also has worked to implement and improve emergency alert systems to reach as many residents as possible. Miller-Todd said a layered approach to public alerting is what makes the county’s system effective.

“Even though you may not have access, or your cell coverage may not ultimately be covered where you’re located, the idea is that you have a layered approach to public alerting, so that you’re capable of receiving messages in a variety of different forms,” he said.

Thurston County residents receive a variety of emergency alerts, including Emergency Alert System (EAS), a national TV-radio based system managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; TC Alert, a wireless county-wide mass notification system; and NOAA weather radios that operate independent of cell towers.

“That redundancy is ultimately what makes our system, and many other systems, as effective as they are,” Miller-Todd said.

While EAS goes through AM radio channels, reaching TV and radio stations, TC Alert consists of texts, e-mails and calls. Residents can opt-in to receive notifications on emergencies in the county and their neighborhoods through the TC Alert web page online.

“I would still encourage people to sign up for the TC alert, because even if they don’t have strong cell service at home, they may still receive alerts while they’re in town or at work, or their neighbors may receive that alert,” said Emergency Management Manager Kyle Bustad.

Targeting notifications

In recent years, Thurston County also participated in a federal study of wireless emergency alerts to issue more precise alerts targeting specific neighborhoods.

“The Wireless Emergency Alert System obviously hits the cell towers and will go to residents’ cell phones in a geographic area, so typically, we send it by zip code,” Bustad said. “Right now, we’re not in a place nationally to do neighborhoods where we can do it with our TC Alert.”

Weather emergencies are also reported through NOAA weather radio which does not rely on cell towers.

“We always encourage our residents to have a weather radio available to them and spare batteries,” Miller-Todd said.

County websites and social media pages, including those managed by fire departments and sheriff’s offices, also share emergency information.

In the case of imminent evacuations, fire and law enforcement go door-to-door ensuring that residents are alerted if they need to evacuate.

Miller-Todd said connectivity in the community is critical for emergency preparedness.

“You can’t talk down Preparedness at all — it is one of the key components to those communities that will both be more resilient and recover more quickly, especially after a disaster.”

Roadblocks to staying connected

However, rural communities still struggle with wireless connectivity, not just to receive emergency notifications, but also to stay in touch with loved ones.

“My grandma who raised me passed away, she called me one last time and I didn’t know because I was at my home on Cooper Point,” one resident wrote. “All I saw was zero bars/no service on my phone until I drove toward the mall to run an errand and my messages came in.”

While the county approved a permit in 2016 to construct a new monopole on Cooper Point Road Northwest, the monopole has not been constructed due to land complications.

“We are appreciative of Thurston County’s approval of the Cooper Point project, however we remain challenged in finding a landlord willing to meet the development needs for a monopole,” a Verizon spokesperson said.

Instead, a new site will be developed near Boston Harbor, serving the areas north and west of Olympia.

“Later this year, we will have a new site near Boston Harbor that will provide incremental coverage for Olympia residents in Cooper Point and along Budd Inlet once it is online,” the Verizon spokesperson said.

In south county, a new cell tower has been proposed on Penn Lane Southeast, sparking questions about whether or not reliable coverage will finally reach Clearwood.

One resident wrote to the Yelm SE Cell Tower Facebook page, “Having cell service won’t mess with your energy and aura, or whatever. It won’t mess with your chakras. A cell tower will not block your view of the mountains and it won’t interfere with bird migration. These were past concerns when a cell tower was proposed years ago. Its 2025. We need this tower. Period.”