President Obama could send text-message warnings under new PLAN system

President Obama, who has been called the texter-in-chief, will soon have the ability to send any cellphone in the U.S. a text message warning of impending danger, from a tornado to a terrorist, under a new emergency alert system called PLAN.

The new system is an expansion of the Federal Communications Commission’s emergency alert system, which is currently broadcast over radio and television.

Short for Personal Localized Alerting Network, the system will first be rolled out in New York City by the end of 2011, with the rest of the U.S. to follow by about the middle of next year, the FCC said in a statement.

The text-message warnings will be able to be sent to phones and other mobile devices based on their geographic location, across different mobile carriers, officials said.

Only three types of alerts will be sent on PLAN: messages issued by the president, alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life and Amber Alerts.

nathan.olivarezgiles@latimes.com