Nation-wide emergency notification test coming October

This will be the first time the Wireless Emergency Alerts system will be tested across the country.

Chances are great you’re going to get a text message on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at exactly 11:18 a.m.

At that time, a test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, otherwise known as IPAWS, will be sending a text message to every phone in the country, so long as the phone is powered on, is in range of a cell tower, and is connected to a compatible wireless provider.

According to the FEMA, the alert system is used to deliver urgent warnings to the country during a national emergency, or can be localized for severe weather warnings and AMBER alerts, through various media and devices.

Many are already familiar with the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which is the message that comes though the radio and television and is tested monthly.

But this will be the first time the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system will be tested nationwide, sending out a text message to every compatible phone.

The message will read, “Presidential Alert: THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

The WEA test will be closely followed by a national EAS test, which will be broadcast over radio and television for roughly a minute.

This will be the fourth such national test of the EAS system.

CORRECTION: In the printed version of this article, it is incorrectly stated the test will occur “this Thursday” (Sept. 20) in both the headline and body of the article. This will be corrected in the next edition.