This is smart, and probably should have been done years ago:

The famous buzz and “test of the emergency broadcast system” is en route to your cell phone, home page and BlackBerry.

By the end of 2007, the Homeland Security Department expects to have updated its Cold War-era emergency alert system so Americans can be warned of impending disasters in several ways.

“Anything that can receive a text message will receive the alert,” said Aaron Walker of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The new warning system is expected to cost $5.5 million to test and deploy nationally, and $1 million annually to maintain, Walker said.

$1 million a year is so incredibly cheap (in government terms anyway) for something that could potentially save lives. People almost always have their cell phones close by, but aren’t always near radios or TVs. The argument could even be made that a cell phone alert will eventually reach more people than a TV or radio broadcast.