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Federal agencies sent the alerts to ensure they could easily inform the public in the event of a large-scale emergency.
Testing. One. Two. Three.
Every television, radio and cellphone in the United States broadcast a message on Wednesday that said: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.”
The test alert was sent out around 2:20 p.m. Eastern time, reaching phones at slightly different times. The test was conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, working in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission.
The test is intended to make sure that the alert system is ready to warn the public in the event of emergencies, particularly those that have a national impact, FEMA said in a statement.
This was the seventh time that a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System has been beamed to radios and televisions.
This was only the second test transmitted to all cellular devices.
Federal agencies want to make sure the technology is functioning correctly, and they also want people to know such an alert exists before it needs to be used, said Jeff Schlegelmilch, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University.
“Speaking generally, alerts are only effective if people know what they are and they know what to do with them,” Mr. Schlegelmilch said.
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What to Know About FEMA’s Emergency Alert Test – The New York Times
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