LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — You heard that right! An attention-grabbing blast rang out from the phones of millions of Americans Wednesday afternoon. The tone startled some but passed a critical test for the entire nation.
“FEMA wants to make sure we can reach people when something goes wrong,” explained Lexington Emergency Management PIO Emily Fay.
The test had two components – Emergency Alert System, or EAS, and Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA.
Each test began around 2:20 p.m.
The EAS portion of the test sent messaging to radios and televisions. It was the seventh nationwide EAS test.
The WEA portion of the test sent messaging to consumer cell phones. The text message was displayed in either English or Spanish, depending on the language setting of the phone. It was only the second test to date for cellular devices.
The message to cell phones read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
Like fire and lockdown drills, practice ensures people know what to do when every minute matters.
By law, FEMA is required to practice using its emergency alarms at least once every three years.
“If you think about all the practice tests you did in elementary for history and spelling, it's the same concept,” said Fay. “We practice that information over and over again until we learn it. So, in this case, we're practicing those alerts over and over again until we need it and we know it works.”
If you are trying to figure out why you did not receive an alert when you should have or have any other feedback on the test, members of the public can write to the email address: FEMA-National-Test@fema.dhs.gov.
