On Oct. 3, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct a听test of the听Emergency Alert System and听Wireless Emergency Alerts to assess the operational readiness of the nation鈥檚 infrastructure that would be used to send messages during a nationwide emergency.
In the mountain time zone, the wireless alerts test will begin at 12:18 p.m., and the emergency alert test will begin at 12:20 p.m.
This will be the first national test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts. Cell towers will broadcast the test message for 30 minutes. You will only receive the message if your phone is compatible with the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)听and that feature has been turned on, you are within range of a tower sending the message, and your wireless provider participates in the WEA program. The test message will read, 鈥淭HIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.鈥�
For more details on phone compatibility and information on the WEA program, see .
The Emergency Alert System broadcasts emergency messages across radio and television, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.
FEMA originally planned the tests for Sept. 20听but postponed to Oct. 3 due to the ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence.
