New York CNN —
Today is the day for the US government’s big emergency alert drill, which will send a test message to every TV, radio and cell phone in the nation.
Starting at approximately 2:20 pm ET on Wednesday, the federal government will begin conducting a nationwide test of its Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The EAS portion of the test will send an emergency alert to all radios and televisions, while the WEA portion of the drill will send an alert to all consumer cell phones.
The test is being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that the systems in place continue to be an effective means of warning the public about emergencies at a national level.
Essentially, what this means is that you can expect hundreds of millions of cell phones around the country to make a screeching alert noise at approximately the same time today, beginning around 2:20 pm ET. Radio and TV stations will also blare a test alert at around the same time. But there is no action required from you after receiving the free message — it is just a test.
Here are answers to all of your burning questions about today’s emergency alert test.
While some recent models of mobile phones may include a setting to opt-out of tests and alerts, none of these settings will affect the 2023 national test, FEMA has said.
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