Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test

The federal government will be conducting the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Unlike other tests that are conducted routinely on a local level, this test will originate from FEMA and will utilize an activation code associated with an actual emergency rather than those generally used for routine testing. As a result of this, although the audio that you will hear over radio stations will state that this is only a test, the crawl on the bottom of television screens may indicate that there is an emergency. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing and those without the volume turned up on their televisions it may be difficult to determine that this is only a test. I want people to know about the test now so they are not alarmed when the test is conducted at 2:00 PM this Wednesday. Again, if you see a message on Wednesday at 2:00 PM indicating that there is an emergency, rest assured that this is indeed only a test and there is no need to call 911. - Emergency Manager Rick Ayers