FEMA shares results of national emergency alert test this week

FEMA, in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), conducted a national test of wireless emergency alerts (WEA) and the emergency alert system (EAS) [yesterday]. The test message was sent nationwide via WEA to cellular phones and over EAS to radio and television stations, beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET.

The testing process is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the FEMA public alert and warning systems to distribute an emergency message nationwide and the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message to the public.

All the cell carriers that participate in WEA received the alert today. The EAS test alert was successfully processed and made available to broadcasters.

FEMA is conducting a survey on the WEA portion of the test to help us capture information about the geographic reach of the WEA Alert Message. Survey results will help FEMA and other WEA stakeholders, such as the FCC and public safety officials, enhance and expand WEA even further.

Final determination of population reach for the EAS test will come from data collected by the EAS Test Reporting System. Analysis will be done by FEMA and the FCC, and results could take approximately four months.