Our digital billboards deliver emergency messages that need to be activated with very short notice. We have an Emergency Alert System (EAS) in place, which allows Amber, FBI, FEMA and other emergency advisories, to be distributed on a local, state or national level, depending on the circumstances. Each digital billboard has three additional slots (per digital billboard rotation) allocated for Emergency Alert use only.
An emergency alert running on one of Lamar's digital billboards.
AMBER Alerts
Lamar has been working with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NECMEC) for the past eight years. Five years ago, Lamar was one of the leading companies that established the outdoor advertising network where all participating digital billboard operators will display issued Amber Alerts within minutes of notification.
FBI – Most Wanted Alerts
Lamar also participates in a formal program with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, DC. Along with several other digital billboard operators, Lamar will run wanted ads for FBI fugitives, missing persons and wanted serial bank robbers.
FEMA – Federal Emergency Management Agency
FEMA posted a case study on its website explaining the public private partnership and providing a succinct summary: “Digital Technology enables quick delivery of emergency messages via high-tech billboards. Public-private partnerships harness these high tech signs to inform the public about weather warnings, evacuation routes and safety related information.”
- After Tropical Storm Fay caused flooding in Florida in 2008, 37 different emergency messages were displayed on more than 75 digital billboards in 11 counties.
- In 2010, flooding and severe storms struck Tennessee form April 30 to May 18. Digital billboards displayed FEMA’s help line number to nearly 400,000 people a day.
- In May of 2011, after catastrophic tornado damage, digital displays were one of the few ways to get FEMA’s toll free help line numbers to those who needed it.
In addition to these national programs, Lamar also participates with numerous local organizations promoting worthwhile causes that benefit the people of the community. A few examples include Crime Stoppers, Silver Alerts (missing elderly citizens) and local traffic emergencies.