US Emergency Alert Translator

🌐 Read in your language / Leer en tu idioma: Español • 中文简体 • 中文繁體 • Tiếng Việt • العربية • Tagalog • Français • 한국어 • Русский • Kreyòl Ayisyen • Português • 日本語 • Polski • हिन्दी • বাংলা • فارسی • Deutsch • اردو

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Translate U.S. emergency alerts from NWS, FEMA, and CDC into 18+ languages in real-time using AI-powered translation. Ensure critical safety information reaches everyone, regardless of language.

Traduce alertas de emergencia de EE.UU. | Tornado warnings, hurricane alerts, and public health emergencies—translated in seconds for 68 million non-English speakers.

What This Actor Does

This Actor collects active emergency alerts from official U.S. government sources and translates them into multiple languages using lingo.dev AI translation:

• National Weather Service (NWS) - Severe weather warnings, watches, and advisories
• FEMA - Disaster declarations and emergency assistance information
• CDC Health Alert Network - Public health emergencies and disease outbreaks

Translated alerts are output to the Apify dataset and optionally sent to webhook endpoints for real-time distribution.

Use Cases

• Emergency Management Agencies - Distribute multilingual alerts to diverse communities
• News Organizations - Provide translated emergency information to non-English audiences
• Community Organizations - Keep immigrant and refugee communities informed during emergencies
• Healthcare Providers - Share health alerts with patients in their preferred language
• Schools & Universities - Alert international students and families during emergencies
• Local Government - Meet FCC language access requirements for emergency alerts

Input Configuration

Field	Type	Description
lingo_api_key	String (required)	Your lingo.dev API key
target_languages	Array	Languages to translate to (default: 13 FCC-mandated + 5 high-impact)
data_sources	Object	Enable/disable sources: {nws: true, fema: true, cdc: false}
geographic_filter	Object	Filter by states: {states: ["CA", "TX"]} or ["ALL"]
severity_threshold	Enum	Minimum severity: Minor, Moderate, Severe, Extreme
urgency_threshold	Enum	Minimum urgency: Future, Expected, Immediate
webhook_urls	Array	URLs to POST translated alerts
max_alerts_per_run	Integer	Cost control limit (default: 100)
deduplication_hours	Integer	Skip previously processed alerts (default: 24)

Default Target Languages

13 FCC-Mandated Languages: Spanish (es), Simplified Chinese (zh-Hans), Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant), Vietnamese (vi), Arabic (ar), Tagalog (tl), French (fr), Korean (ko), Russian (ru), Haitian Creole (ht), Portuguese (pt), Japanese (ja), Polish (pl)

5 Additional High-Impact Languages: Hindi (hi), Bengali (bn), Persian/Farsi (fa), German (de), Urdu (ur)

Quick Start: Choose Your Scale

Individual / Family Use (Free lingo.dev tier)

Monitor your state for emergencies in your language:

{
  "lingo_api_key": "your-key",
  "geographic_filter": { "states": ["CA"] },
  "target_languages": ["es", "zh-Hans"],
  "max_alerts_per_run": 20
}

Recommended settings:

• 1-3 states you live in or care about
• 2-5 languages your household needs
• max_alerts_per_run: 20-50 to control usage
• Free lingo.dev tier supports ~10,000 words/month

Agency / Enterprise Use (Paid lingo.dev tier)

Full-scale monitoring for organizations serving diverse communities:

{
  "lingo_api_key": "your-paid-key",
  "geographic_filter": { "states": ["ALL"] },
  "target_languages": ["es", "zh-Hans", "zh-Hant", "vi", "ar", "tl", "fr", "ko", "ru", "ht", "pt", "ja", "pl", "hi", "bn", "fa", "de", "ur"],
  "max_alerts_per_run": 500
}

Why paid tier? Nationwide monitoring (ALL states) with 18 languages generates high translation volume. A typical run may process 400+ alerts x 18 languages = 7,200+ translations. The free lingo.dev tier will exhaust quickly. Agencies and nonprofits should use a paid lingo.dev plan for reliable operation.

Cost estimate: ~$7.20 per full nationwide run (at $0.001/translation)

Output Format

Optimized for agencies, SMS distribution, and human readability. Each alert generates one record per language, enabling easy filtering and export.

Record Structure

{
  "language": "es",
  "language_name": "Spanish / Español",

  "action": "¡BUSQUE REFUGIO AHORA! Muévase a un sótano...",
  "location": "Condado de Dallas, TX",
  "what": "Advertencia de tornado",
  "headline": "Advertencia de tornado emitida para el condado de Dallas hasta las 5:30 PM",

  "sms_ready": "🚨 ADVERTENCIA DE TORNADO: Condado de Dallas, TX. ¡BUSQUE REFUGIO AHORA! Muévase a un sótano. Hasta 5:30 PM.",
  "wea_extended": "🚨 ADVERTENCIA DE TORNADO\n📍 Condado de Dallas, TX\n\n⚠️ ¡BUSQUE REFUGIO AHORA! Muévase a un sótano o habitación interior...\n\n⏰ Válido hasta Mar 15, 5:30 PM",

  "description": "Una tormenta severa capaz de producir un tornado...",
  "valid_until": "2025-03-15T17:30:00-05:00",
  "issued_at": "2025-03-15T16:00:00-05:00",

  "severity_indicator": "🟠 Severe",
  "source_label": "NWS Weather",

  "metadata": {
    "alert_id": "urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.123456",
    "source": "nws",
    "severity": "Severe",
    "urgency": "Immediate",
    "is_translation": true,
    "translated_from": "en",
    "translated_at": "2025-03-15T16:45:00Z",
    "translation_engine": "lingo.dev"
  }
}

Key Fields

Field	Purpose
action	Most critical: What to do RIGHT NOW
location	Where the alert applies
what	Type of emergency event
sms_ready	Pre-formatted ≤160 chars for SMS gateway distribution
wea_extended	Pre-formatted ≤360 chars for modern WEA systems
severity_indicator	Visual emoji + severity for quick scanning

Design Principles

Based on FCC/FEMA research on emergency communication:

1. One record per language - Enables filtering by language in Apify console, CSV export for agencies
2. Action-first ordering - Protective action is the most life-saving information
3. SMS-ready field - Agencies can copy directly to SMS gateways (160 char limit)
4. WEA-extended field - Compatible with modern IPAWS systems (360 char limit)
5. Plain language names - "action", "location", "what" instead of technical jargon
6. Metadata separation - Technical fields nested away from human-readable content

Filtering by Language

In the Apify console, filter the dataset to show only one language:

• Filter: language = es (Spanish only)
• Filter: language = zh-Hans (Simplified Chinese only)
• Filter: metadata.is_translation = false (English originals only)

Pricing

This Actor uses Pay-Per-Event (PPE) pricing:

Event	Cost	Description
alert-translation	$0.001	Per language per alert translated

Example costs:

• 50 alerts × 13 languages = $0.65
• 100 alerts × 18 languages = $1.80

Note: The above pricing reflects Apify Actor usage costs only. Translation is powered by lingo.dev, which requires your own API key. Any lingo.dev translation costs incurred while using this Actor are billed separately according to their current pricing and your account tier.

Store Discount Tiers

Your Apify subscription plan determines automatic discounts:

Plan	Monthly Cost	Discount	Price/Translation
Free	$0	0%	$0.001
Starter	$39	10% (BRONZE)	$0.0009
Scale	$199	20% (SILVER)	$0.0008
Business	$999	30% (GOLD)	$0.0007

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Beyond Business: Saving Lives Through Language Access

"When seconds matter, language shouldn't be a barrier."

The Problem

During emergencies, millions of Americans face a critical barrier: language.

• 68 million Americans speak a language other than English at home
• 25 million are Limited English Proficient (LEP)
• 8.3 million LEP individuals live in disaster-prone areas

When emergency alerts arrive only in English, these communities are left behind. A Spanish-speaking grandmother may not understand a tornado warning. A Vietnamese fishing community may miss a hurricane evacuation order. A Chinese-speaking family may not know about a dangerous disease outbreak.

The consequences are life and death.

Studies show LEP communities experience:

• Higher mortality rates during disasters
• Delayed evacuations due to confusion
• Reduced access to emergency services
• Greater post-disaster trauma from lack of information

The FCC Mandate

The FCC requires emergency alerts be accessible in the 13 most common non-English languages in the U.S. Yet implementation remains inconsistent, especially for:

• Smaller local emergency management agencies
• Rapidly developing situations
• Health emergencies like disease outbreaks

Our Solution

This Actor bridges the gap by providing:

1. Real-time AI Translation - Alerts translated within seconds of issuance
2. 18+ Languages - All FCC-mandated languages plus additional high-impact languages
3. Multiple Sources - NWS weather, FEMA disasters, and CDC health alerts
4. Flexible Distribution - Dataset output, webhooks, or integration with any system
5. Affordable Access - Pay only for what you use

Who Benefits

Refugee Resettlement Agencies Organizations like the International Rescue Committee and Catholic Charities can keep newly arrived refugees informed during emergencies, even before they learn English.

Community Health Centers Federally Qualified Health Centers serving LEP patients can share translated health alerts about disease outbreaks, air quality warnings, and other health emergencies.

Local Emergency Management Smaller counties without translation resources can now provide multilingual alerts to their diverse communities.

Schools with Diverse Populations Districts with significant immigrant populations can inform parents about weather emergencies, lockdowns, and other safety situations.

Impact Metrics

When deployed, this Actor can help reach:

• 25+ million Limited English Proficient Americans
• 340+ languages spoken in U.S. homes (targeting top 18)
• 3,000+ counties served by NWS alerts
• Thousands of annual disaster declarations and health alerts

Built with Purpose

This Actor was built for the Apify $1M Challenge with a focus on social impact. Every line of code serves the mission of equitable access to life-saving information.

Translation powered by lingo.dev - AI-powered localization that understands context, tone, and urgency.

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Example: Running the Actor

{
  "lingo_api_key": "your-api-key",
  "target_languages": ["es", "zh-Hans", "vi", "ar", "ko"],
  "data_sources": {
    "nws": true,
    "fema": true,
    "cdc": false
  },
  "geographic_filter": {
    "states": ["CA", "TX", "FL"]
  },
  "severity_threshold": "Moderate",
  "urgency_threshold": "Expected",
  "max_alerts_per_run": 50
}

Scheduling

For real-time emergency monitoring, schedule this Actor to run every 5-15 minutes. The built-in deduplication ensures you only pay for new alerts.

Recommended schedules:

• Critical monitoring: Every 5 minutes
• Standard monitoring: Every 15 minutes
• Daily digest: Once per day

Integration

Webhook Integration

Configure webhook_urls to receive translated alerts via POST:

{
  "webhook_urls": [
    "https://your-server.com/alerts",
    "https://slack.com/api/webhook/..."
  ]
}

API Access

Use the Apify API to retrieve translated alerts programmatically:

$curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/{datasetId}/items?token={token}"

Support

• Issues: Report on the Actor's Apify page
• API Keys: Get your lingo.dev key at lingo.dev

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Built for the Apify $1M Challenge - Social Impact Category

Saving lives, one translation at a time.