‘This Is a Test’: Nationwide Alert will reach Cellphones, Radios and TVs

INDIANA – The Federal Emergency Management Agency working with the Federal Communications Commission will send an alert on October 4 to ensure that the country is prepared to inform the public in the event of a large-scale emergency especially those on the national scale, like natural or human-made disasters or threats to public safety.  

Every radio, television, and cellphone in the United States is going to broadcast a message on Oct. 4 along the lines of: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

The test alert will be sent out around 2:20 p.m.

If there is an actual emergency on Oct. 4, such as severe weather, a backup testing date was set for Oct. 11.