On October 4th, the Phones Canada team wants to bring your attention to an important alert that will be sent out via your smartphone. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) will be conducting a test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). This nationwide test will consist of two parts, testing the capabilities of both WEA and EAS.
Starting at 11:20 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (2:20 pm Eastern Daylight Time) on October 4th, the test will last for up to 30 minutes. During this time, all consumer cellphones will receive a test message via WEA. Depending on the language setting on your phone, the alert will appear in either English or Spanish.
The English message will say, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” For Spanish language settings, the message will read, “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.” If your wireless phone is turned on and within range of an active cell tower, and if your wireless provider participates in WEA, you should receive the test message on October 4th.
Please note that this is the third time the government has issued a nationwide WEA test, but the second time involving all cellular devices. Alongside the WEA test, the EAS test will be sent to all televisions and radios. Lasting about one minute, you will hear an alarm followed by the message, “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.” This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.
The purpose of this test is to ensure that the emergency alert systems continue to effectively warn the public about emergencies, especially those on a national level. In the event of widespread severe weather or other significant events that may postpone the October 4th test, the backup testing date is scheduled for October 11th.
Please stay prepared and be aware of this upcoming nationwide test, which aims to enhance our emergency alert systems.
