DELMARVA - Millions of phones across the country will sound an alarm on Wednesday, Oct. 4, as part of a national test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts and the Emergency Alert System. These tests are expected to take place around 2:20 p.m.
Cell phones that are on and within range of an active cell tower for all major U.S. wireless providers should receive the test alerts. As long as phones are on, even on vibrate, an alarm should still sound when the alert is received.
There will be one for wireless phone alerts, which will display a message in English or Spanish depending on the phone's language settings. The emergency alert test, on the other hand, will be sent to radios and televisions. Tests could be transmitted for 30 minutes, but each phone should only receive the wireless alert once.
The test is the result of coordinated efforts between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that these alert systems continue to be effective in warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level.
These are the alerts that many residents in western Sussex County say they did not receive in April when a hurricane touched down, destroying multiple homes and killing one man.
If there should be widespread severe weather or another significant event, testing will take place on the back-up date of Oct. 11.