Presidential Alert Text Postponed to October 3rd
Citing "the ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence", the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), announced on Monday night, September 10th that the planned test of the wireless emergency alert system (WEA), originally scheduled for Thursday, September 20th has been postponed to October 3rd.
Many people were uncomfortable receiving the text and had said they were going to turn off their phone to avoid receiving the text. As a matter of fact the hashtag #GoDark920 was trending.
The alert was to look like this:
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. A similar wireless emergency alert test message has been sent to all cell phones nationwide. Some cell phones will receive the message; others will not. No action is required.”
For more information, check out the communication piece published by FEMA on their website."