An emergency alert system for alerting DSL subscribers of imminent perils includes an alert server connected over a direct link to an edge node of a metro network for receiving an event notification, configuring from an event notification a highest priority alert message, and broadcasting the alert message to subscriber terminals over the metro network. An Add-Drop Multiplexer (ADM) multiplexes the alert traffic with the regular traffic onto the direct link, and the multiplexed traffic reaches the edge node of the metro network, which is configured with a high priority policy. The edge node discards the lower priority traffic in the presence of the alert traffic and an applet installed on the subscriber terminal accepts and displays the alert message in a browser or a media player.