Don't be alarmed when you hear sirens going off on the TV or radio Wednesday afternoon -- it's just a test.
FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) today.
The nationwide test will be sent to radio and television stations beginning at 2:20 p.m.
The EAS test message will be:
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communication Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert, you heard at the start of this message. No action is required."
Again, this is only a test and is not a real event.
This year’s test will evaluate the readiness of the national alerting capability in the absence of internet connectivity. The test will be approximately one minute long, have a limited impact on the public with only minor interruption of radio and television programs, and will be similar to regular monthly EAS tests. Both the audio message and text crawl should be accessible to people with disabilities.
The test will not include a message on cell phones via Wireless Emergency Alerts.