After Trump and Congress spending cuts, public media stations wait on money for emergency alerts

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FILE - An emergency alert is displayed on a cellphone, Oct. 30, 2020, in Rio Rancho, N.M. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)

Warning: This may be an actual emergency — as far as emergencies about emergencies go, at least.

The recently defunded nonprofit corporation that distributed federal money to public media stations across the United States is warning of another casualty when it shuts down next month: the resilience of the nation's emergency alert systems.

In 2022, Congress authorized $136 million for the Next Generation Warning System grant program, meant to help stations in rural, tribal and otherwise underserved communities repair and improve the warning systems that tell people about evacuation orders, Amber ale