Outdoor emergency siren horn.
By WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org
Kent County Emergency Manager Lt. Lou Hunt today released a statement to inform the general public about a planned test of the country’s Emergency Alert System.
As part of the statement, Lt. Hunt states: “This is only a test and is not a real event. No action is needed by the public. It is also important to know this test does not include wireless emergency alerts, so alerts broadcast through wireless devices such as cellphones are not expected nor being tested. Rather, this test is aimed at traditional alerting methods such as radio and television.”
Following is the complete statement:
FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission and radio and television Emergency Alert System (EAS) participants, will conduct a nationwide test of the EAS beginning at 2:20 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 7, 2019. A backup date is scheduled for Wednesday, August 21, 2019, if needed. The test will assess the operational readiness of the nation’s alert and warning infrastructures for distribution of a national message that could be urgent and lifesaving and determine whether technological improvements are warranted.
The test of the EAS will broadcast a test message that is approximately one minute long. Broadcast radio and television, cable, wireline service providers, and direct broadcast satellite service providers will each broadcast the test message once within a few minutes of the test. The national EAS test message will look and sound similar to the regular Required Monthly Test messages broadcast by all EAS participants.
The EAS test message is expected to have limited impact on the public with only a minor interruption to regular radio and television programs. 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.”
