In case you haven’t already heard about it: Emergency test tomorrow morning for cell phones, TV, radio

Lots of reminders about this today but there still might be somebody who hasn’t heard about it, so we’ll join in too: An emergency test message will be sent to cell phones, TV, and radio tomorrow (Wednesday, October 3rd). From the official FEMA webpage explaining the test, which starts at 11:18 am our time:

The WEA test message will appear on consumers’ phones and read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” Phones will display this national test using the header “Presidential Alert.” These nationwide alerts, established pursuant to the WARN Act of 2006, are meant for use in a national emergency and are the only type of alert that can be sent simultaneously nationwide by FEMA.

… Many members of the public will receive the WEA test message on their cell phones. Specifically, beginning at 2:18 p.m. EDT, cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message. Wireless phones should receive the message only once.

The same FEMA page has details about the TV/radio test set to start two minutes later (11:20 am our time).

22 Replies to "In case you haven't already heard about it: Emergency test tomorrow morning for cell phones, TV, radio"

  • West Seattle Hipster October 2, 2018 (8:19 pm)

    Is it possible to reply? I would like to tell Trump to go to hell.

  • Toni Reineke October 2, 2018 (9:59 pm)

    Thank you! I had not heard about this, so would have been quite concerned.

  • just wondering October 2, 2018 (10:21 pm)

    I only want a presidential alert if Trump is leaving office!

  • TrumpSupporter October 3, 2018 (7:12 am)

    Make W Seattle Great Again!!

    Gosh so much hatred in W.Seattle

    • HelperMonkey October 3, 2018 (8:22 am)

      we don’t have to be tolerant of the intolerant, chumpsupporter. there’ s no hate here, only living through the sad reality of what that orange grifter is doing to our once-great country.

    • West Seattle Hipster October 3, 2018 (9:45 am)

      There is more hatred in the White House than in West Seattle.

    • SaraB October 3, 2018 (9:45 am)

      West Seattle was already great before the Bloviator in Chief finagled his way into office. Maybe you can explain to the rest of us why he’s not worthy of contempt?

      • TrumpSupporter October 3, 2018 (11:01 am)

        Maybe you all trump haters can explain to the rest of us why he’s not worthy of contempt…

        • brian October 3, 2018 (3:54 pm)

          Maybe you can explain why he’s not worthy of not no contempt? Or did I just blow your feeble mind?

    • CatLady October 3, 2018 (5:19 pm)

      “So much hatred” says the guy supporting the president who has sexually harassed/assaulted over a dozen women, called Mexicans rapists, mocked a disabled reporter, referred to Nazis as “very fine people”, and just last night made fun of a victim of sexual assault. And that’s just a fraction of what HE’S done, nevermind everyone else in his worthless, grafting administration.

      In case you’re unclear, I do hate you. I hate him, I hate his administration, and I hate his supporters. But love is stronger than hate, and my love for myself, for my friends and family, and for marginalized community members is stronger than the hate, and that’s what keeps me going. It’s too bad you lack love and empathy in your own life.

      • Penman October 3, 2018 (6:26 pm)

        Your hatred is exactly what’s making this country worse . Hatred from the left vs hatred from the right .you are only happy when you get the president / party you want ….seems to be the case here loud and clear . It’s an alert system stop making it political .

  • Brenda October 3, 2018 (9:52 am)

    Love our president!!!

  • Penman October 3, 2018 (10:06 am)

    I have no problem with this, regardless of who is in power it has nothing to do with it . Please stop behaving like the president you despise .

  • BlairJ October 3, 2018 (11:20 am)

    I work in a large office. Hundreds of phones started making noise at the same time. Amusing.

  • LivesWS October 3, 2018 (11:47 am)

    I made sure mine was turned off.

  • sc October 3, 2018 (2:45 pm)

    “Wise men speak because they have something to say;
    Fools because they have to say something.”

    -Plato

  • WS Bandit October 3, 2018 (4:29 pm)

    Does anyone think that this could take down the Cellular systems? You think AT&T has a strong enough system to allow for such a thing? Remember Ellen D took down Twitter with her Tweet. Hmmmm.. Inquiring minds want to know.

    • zark00 October 4, 2018 (10:09 am)

      WS Bandit – probably not unless someone made some pretty big goofs. They’ve been working on the emergency alert text system for a couple years now and wireless carriers are directly involved in capacity planning for it. Interestingly, TV shows like American Idol and the text voting they started years back really forced the carriers to increase message clearing capacity rapidly and pretty dramatically. The voting is millions of people sending messages from various carriers which are then all responded to by the ‘tv show’. 3rd party companies had to be employed to handle the message queues. We’re talking millions of messages both way every second. The emergency alert system is a one to many situation – one source, terminated at our cells phones, and no replies. So it’s far less taxing than even one airing of Idol and the insane number of texts they generated. Nowadays that voting is primarily done via twitter and facebook btw. Regarding Ellen downing Twitter, that was a shortcoming of twitters servers themselves, not the ‘lines’ carrying the tweets (carriers) – twitter is not very internet intensive at all, so even a firestorm of twitter activity isn’t going to have much impact on anyone but twitter’s own systems. They beefed up a lot after Ellen too :)

  • Charlie October 3, 2018 (4:49 pm)

    Only once? My wireless phone was sent five separate alerts.

  • Chuck October 4, 2018 (4:15 pm)

    Over the last 6 months or so, I have had “an awakening” and no longer look at the world with complete innocence. By default (let’s face it, the world is completely nuts–and I asked myself, why is that??), I have become something of a Truther. My favorite stop on FB is a group called Destroying the Illusion, open to all. A young guy (very smart) named Jordan Sather (WA native) started it. You could google him, too. But if you ready to learn what is REALLY going on in the world, give the site a spin. In the meantime, here is a post by one of the members that I will drop here. There is some solid advice in here–like laying in a supply of food and water to last 3-4 weeks, pronto. I am not trying to scare anyone. But the truth is, we have been lied to our entire lives about, well, everything. There is incredible beauty in this world, and that is where I put my intent and focus. But the Dark aspects of this world I am now more fully aware of, as we all will be soon.

    Remember the movie the Matrix? Well, here’s your Red Pill, should you choose to take it. I won’t be following up here as there is just TOO MUCH to share. It’s really the job of a Truther site, like Destroying the Illusion. I also recommend you look into Qanon, or “Q.” It’s the near daily intel drops from inside the Trump administration (military leaders) giving insights (in advance!) as to what is really going on behind the scenes. The Swamp? It is the corruption on BOTH sides of the aisle. The Cabal. The Illuminati (all real). The war mongers like the Rothschilds who have profited by financing both sides of our great wars. Hell, all wars. We are just puppets to them. But finally, we are collectively now pulling the strings. The world IS changing for the better.

    I urge you to do your own research. And here’s a hint: the 6:00 news ain’t it. Oh, so yeah, yesterday’s text was just a harbinger of things to come. Do you know that there are over 51,000!! unsealed indictments across our country? Mass arrests of the most vile MS-13, pedophiles, drug deals, child sex traffickers, politicians, Satanists and much more (Hillary and Obama are neck deep in this; as are the Bushes–all just doing their master’s bidding). So yeah, that’s what it all comes down to. The Swamp really IS about to be drained. Here’s the funny thing: I used to loathe Trump. Now I just see him for the change agent he is. Oh, he’s still contemptuous in many ways, but he is finishing the job JFK started so many years ago. It’s what got him killed, btw.. That’s enough of a ramble from me.

    The post: (MSM is mainstream media)

    “Make no mistake: This unprecedented battle to keep Kavanaugh out of office has NOTHING to do with Dems battling Republicans – or sexual misconduct – or opposing POTUS – THOSE are the smokescreen reasons.
    Kavanaugh on SCOTUS is critical to what is unfolding over the next 1-3 months. Those fighting Kavanaugh nomination KNOW military tribunals are coming.
    Some of you will think I am crazy but I will warn you anyway – If you do not understand/Agree now – you will very SOON.
    High level arrests of household name people will be starting soon – These people are guilty of the most horrendous crimes you can dare yourself to imagine. These will be politicians, Hollywood, MSM, Government officials at every level.
    The targets of these arrests have been and will continue to stir up the masses into violence – if you have been paying attention, you can see how this has been escalating (and it will continue to do so)
    After the arrests, there will be some level of civil unrest – some organic, some paid for and directed. We will most likely find ourselves under martial law for a short time. This is why we are seeing the EAS test tomorrow and why POTUS declared Sept as National Preparedness Month. If you have not already, I highly recommend you gather a small store of food, water, cash, medications, and make provisions for heat and necessities should our power grid temporarily go down. (3-4 weeks worth)
    We have already seen evidence of troops and National Guard being prepared for this. You should not be in fear, but I hope you will take this seriously. I believe POTUS will squash the unrest quickly and ferociously. It may not even end up affecting us at all – OR – it may escalate quickly and affect us for a short time. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
    Mid-terms are the last hope for the corrupt – I believe the worst of what we see, will happen AFTER the mid-terms. Nov-Jan time period. I could be wrong – but with all the info I have seen; that is my prediction.
    SCOTUS will become relevant as the military tribunals for American citizens will be contested all the way to SCOTUS – The vote in SCOTUS will be critical to success. Please refer back to Lindsey Grahams’ line of questioning of Kavanaugh – He specifically asked him several questions in regards to military courts – those questions and Kavanaughs’ answers were critical.
    This is NOT a Dem vs Republican battle – This is a good vs evil battle. Those who would subvert this country and imprison it’s people vs those are have been set in place to prevent the destruction of our country and way of life.
    Lastly, the things you will be finding out – the things you will be seeing and hearing and being revealed to us about some of the most well-known names, will be SHOCKING! Please understand – there have been things happening right under our noses that is so wicked; it will shake us to the core when they are exposed.
    At this point – I don’t care if people think I’m crazy – I have learned, seen and heard SO much from so many sources, that I have ZERO doubt that what I am telling you is true – it is coming, we are watching it unfold right now- and I am trying my best to prepare all those who see my timeline.
    It’s totally cool for you to laugh, mock, think I’ve lost my marbles..etc etc – but if even one of you take it seriously and get prepared – totally worth it!”

  • Chuck October 4, 2018 (6:38 pm)

    Should have read “sealed” indictments. Not for much longer thorough…

  • Jethro Marx October 4, 2018 (7:31 pm)

    Wow, Chuck. This explains a lot. Is the earth flat, though? And, if so, what happens at the edge?

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