3 October 2023
(KDVR) — On Wednesday, Oct. 4, at approximately 12:20 p.m., two odd-sounding national alerts will go off on all TVs, radios and phones.
Just remember: this is only a test. The messages are part of a nationwide test conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission.
The point of these alerts is to test out the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency System.
The alert will only last a minute on the radio, television broadcasts, cable systems, satellite radio, television providers and wireline video providers.
The message will read:
“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.”
In an actual emergency, this system provides the president with the capability to address Americans within 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Wireless Emergency System will also go off on Wednesday. It will be a text message that cell towers broadcast for about 30 minutes. The message will read:
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The National Wireless Emergency System is designed to warn the public of an impending natural or human-made disaster.
These alerts will vibrate and make a unique sound, which is an effort to make the alerts accessible to the entire public.
Between both tests, they’ve only been tried out 10 times nationally. While the message and sound may be new to you, there’s nothing to be concerned about when the alarms go off.