I'm unclear on the need for this.
I understand your justifications, but I don't see the need to develop a whole new public radio service when we have several ways of achieving your goal.
Requiring everyone to buy a new radio at a few hundred dollars isn't going to happen. To be useful in an emergency, it will need sufficient battery backup. Backing up a 50 watt radio is going to take more than a couple of D cells. It would require suitable size battery, and that requires maintenance.
It'll require an external antenna, which is way beyond what average consumers can install and test properly. Most are not going to want a low band antenna stuck on the side of their home, or on their car. As stated, hand held low band use is dismal due to antenna limitations.
No mention of licensing, or is this a license by rule service?
The FCC doesn't enforce the rules on what we already have, so figure on this becoming a higher power version of the wasteland of CB.
We don't need yet another two way radio service to add to the confusion. We've got consumers that don't understand why a CB on channel 2 cannot talk to an FRS radio on channel 2 and a marine VHF radio on channel 2 and a TV set on channel 2. They're already confused by FRS, GMRS, CB, MURS, 5G, LTE, WiFi, DHS, Ham, EIEIO, etc.
Requiring government agencies to purchase, maintain and periodically test another radio system isn't going to go over well.
We have FM broadcast and TV stations that can already do emergency alerts. There are enough of those that all of them getting wiped out at the same time is unlikely. Add in AM broadcast radio, and you've got more resources than you can shake a stick at. Most people already have TV sets, as well as AM/FM radios in their cars.
Cell phones, while relying on risky infrastructure, have WEA, and public safety agencies have embraced that.
Add NOAA weather radio that already has coverage in most areas and has a functional alerting system built in.
Rather than building a new infrastructure that relies on people buying radios that they'll never understand, never install correctly and never maintain, we'd be better off working with what we already have.
If we need a way to get the attention of people, bring back air raid sirens. Teach people to turn on their radio when they hear it.
I get it, we're radio people and we're supposed to embrace this.
Most of these areas, and Paradise in particular, already have people that have come up with various ways of using existing FRS, GMRS, MURS and amateur radios to accomplish this. It's cheaper, it's easier, but they don't catch on because it's too complex for the average person and requires buying radios, learning how to properly use them, and keeping them charged and ready to go.
I don't think we need to invent a new radio service. We need to utilize the tools we already have. Paradise was a freak incident, and I don't think faster alerting would have changed the outcome very much. Clogged roads, downed trees and power lines, and sheer confusion would happen with this or not.
