How to Manage Severe Weather Emergencies During Festival Season

Kara Stamets, Content Marketing Specialist, Alertus Technologies

As the weather warms up nationwide, large festivals, outdoor events, and state fairs are drawing crowds. With high volumes of visitors passing through event grounds, it is critical to have an emergency mass notification system (MNS) in place to warn guests and staff of potential severe weather emergencies.

Spring weather can be unpredictable and swings quickly between warm and cool temperatures. Recently, rodeo-goers in Houston, Texas were caught in a rain and hail storm prompting crowds to run for cover, while Ultra Music Festival organizers in Miami, Florida were forced to shut the concert down early due to severe thunderstorms, strong winds, and flooding, and delayed opening the following day.

During severe weather events, it is important to communicate with visitors via push, SMS/TXT, and social media updates in order to provide cancellation/opening updates and instructions on what to do. Using personal notification methods ensures you reach a wide range of individuals whether they are on their way to the festival or are already there. 

Two-way radios are essential devices for event staff communication. The Alertus Radio Integration uses text-to-speech technology to provide clear emergency alerts to the appropriate personnel—no matter where they’re located on-site.

Outdoor warning via long-range speakers is a critical way to alert visitors of lightning or flooding and provide safety instructions. The Alertus’ Mobile High Power Speaker Array (MHPSA) is ideal for seasonal events and can be set up in just 15 minutes to provide far-reaching, attention-grabbing voice messages. The Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile, Alabama prearranged messages to be distributed over the MHPSA in the case of an emergency.

Learn how you can prepare for emergencies and communicate effectively in unique, widespread environments like festivals, concerts, and fairgrounds with the Alertus System.