LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – This Wednesday, October 4 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct a nationwide test of its two alerting systems: the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system.
The test will start at approximately 2:20 p.m. According to FEMA, the purpose of this test is to ensure that the emergency alerting systems are working correctly and to identify any areas that need improvement.
The WEA system is designed to send emergency alerts to all cell phones in the nation. During the test, all compatible wireless phones that are powered on and within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless carrier provider participates in WEA, should receive a message that says, “This is a test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
At the same time, the EAS will also send a test message to all radios and televisions in the country. The alert will last for approximately one minute and will be similar to the regular monthly test messages that the public is familiar with. The message will state, “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert
System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”
More information is available at fema.gov/pressrelease/20230803/fema-and-fcc-plan-nationwide-emergency-alert-test-oct-4-2023.
