Get ready, America: A nationwide test of the emergency alert system will blare from every cellphone and TV in the country this fall.
FEMA will be testing the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts at 11:20 a.m. Pacific time on Oct. 4. Cellphones will be sent a test message as long as your phone is “switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA,” FEMA said in a statement. Your message will be in either English or Spanish, depending on which language setting you have on your phone. The message will start with “THIS IS A TEST,” and let you know that “no action is needed.”
On your TV or radio, the test will last about a minute. An alert will sound, followed by the message, “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System.”
Radio and television broadcasters, including cable TV providers, must allow the nation’s Emergency Alert System to take over broadcasts within 10 minutes of a national emergency.
George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.