Many people in the Coastal Bend heard their phones going off around 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sent notifications to phones nationwide to test the emergency alert system.
According to FEMA, legislation passed in 2015 requires FEMA to conduct nationwide tests of IPAWS at least once every three years. The test included WEA, EAS, and other alert and warning systems. The most recent national test was in 2021.
Being that the alert is just a test, there's no cause for panic. It was conducted to ensure the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are operational in the event of a national crisis, while also familiarizing the public with the notifications. Those in larger metropolitan areas may have received similar-looking Amber Alerts from this system before.
Brad Hand, who lives in Corpus Christi said he was not expecting the alert.
“My initial reaction was I checked with my wife to see if hers went off as well and then I saw that it was a test, so I said, ‘oh okay.’ A lot of people assume that it is an Amber Alert because it’s a similar sound,” Hand said.
According to FEMA, the WEA test was sent directly to consumers cell phones all across America.
Cassidy Falcon, a local resident, said that she is not familiar with the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)
“I don’t know why they do them, but I would assume because of a national emergency, going to war or something that they would need to notify everybody as quickly as possible."
FEMA said this will be the third nationwide test, but the second test to all WEA-compatible cellular devices. People cannot opt out of the nationwide alert, as even phones set to silent will be subjected to the jarring noise.
The alert will read: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
The messages were deployed in English or Spanish, depending on the language settings of the devices.
The cell phone test is scheduled to last for about 30 minutes, but consumers can silence the sound as soon as it pops up on their devices.
Hand said that people need to take these alerts more seriously to protect themselves and others.
“I’m not surprised that people don’t check the sort of alerts we get. It’s kind of sad from my viewpoint, I think anyways," he said. "I think most American disregard the sort of technology that we have available to us and wouldn’t be the wiser if something serious were happening."
