You will soon be getting a message on your
phone from the President of the United States.
It will be an emergency test message sent from
President Donald Trump as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's
system to warn the public in cases of national emergencies.
A
majority of cell phone users will receive an alert on Thursday, September 20,
with the header "Presidential Alert" and the message, "This is a
test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System (WEA). No action is
needed."
WEA was technically launched in April of 2012,
but this will be the first time FEMA has tested the system on the presidential
level in hopes to work out the kinks, the agency said
in a press release this week.
The presidential alert is one of three kinds of
alerts in the FEMA's WEA system, which also notifies the public about extreme
weather or missing children, also known as AMBER alerts.
You can
expect to see the alert pop up on your phone at 2:18 p.m. ET so long as you
have your phone turned on, are within range of a cell tower, and if your
wireless provider is part of the WEA system.
The WEA test will be broadcast over the course
of about 30 minutes and sound the same as an AMBER Alert. Users can't opt out of the
presidential alert test, according to FEMA.
More than 100 carriers, including the largest
carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile), will participate in the
emergency alert test, FEMA said.
FEMA will also run a test of its Emergency
Alert System (EAS) for radio and television broadcasters the same day,
beginning two minutes after the WEA test.
In its news release, FEMA said it could
postpone the national test to October 3 if the agency is dealing with a major
weather event. FEMA officials said on Saturday morning that they are still
planning to conduct the test this week.
The agency is required by law to conduct a
nationwide test of its public alert systems no less than once every three
years.
FEMA is also tasked with ensuring that the
President can alert the public under all conditions in cases of national
emergencies, including natural disasters and terrorist threats.
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