GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A nationwide emergency alert test is scheduled to go out this afternoon to cellphones, televisions and radios.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have planned the alert to be sent around 2:20 p.m. ET.
The national test will consist of two portions, including testing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), according to FEMA.
The WEA portion will be directed to cellphones, and the EAS portion will be sent to radios and televisions.
The goal is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective to warn the public about emergencies, particularly on the national level.
All wireless phones should receive the message only once, which will say ,"THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert system. No action is needed."
An alert tone, similar to an Amber Alert, will be played when the message is received.
If you're in a position where you can't have the alert go off on your phone, you can turn your phone off ahead of time and keep it off until 30 minutes after the test.
Experts said doing that that should bypass the alert tone.
If the test is postponed due to severe weather or other events, the backup testing date is Oct. 11.
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