Government to send test alert messages Wednesday to cellphones

5 years ago

A message headed “Presidential Alert” will be sent Wednesday to cellphones throughout the United States as part of a nationwide test of an emergency alert system, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The brief message will also say that it is only a TEST and that no action is needed.

In a statement, FEMA said it will conduct a nationwide test Wednesday of the Wireless Emergency Alerts system (WEA) which will go to cellphones. It will also make a test Wednesday of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which involves radio and television systems and their audiences.

According to the statement, the dual test “will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed.”

It will be the first national WEA test, and the fourth nationwide test of EAS, the statement said. The last previous EAS test was carried out in September, 2017, FEMA said.

To read the rest of “Government to send test alert messages Wednesday to cellphones,” an article by Washington Post writer Martin Weil, please follow this link to the BDN online.