Here’s why everyone with a cellphone will be getting a text from the president

Photo by janulla/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — In order to test its nationwide emergency alert system, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the FCC will be sending texts to everyone with a cellphone on Oct. 3.

According to FEMA, the Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that allows the president to address the nation during a national emergency. While the public is most likely more familiar with the EAS alerts, which typically interrupt radio and television broadcasts, this will be the first Wireless Emergency Alert.

The tests will assess the readiness to distribute a national message and determine if improvements are needed.

The tests of the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts are being conducted in October instead of September due to the ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence, which hit North Carolina last week.

The WEA portion of the test will commence Oct. 3 at 2:18 p.m. EDT (12:18 p.m. MDT), and the EAS portion will follow at 2:20 p.m. EDT (12:30 p.m. MDT). The EAS test is scheduled to last approximately one minute.

The EAS test is available to participants such as radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers. The EAS test message will include the following:

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.

The WEA system is meant to alert the public to dangerous weather, missing children and other critical situations. WEA compatible cellphones that are turned on and in range of an active cell tower should receive the test message, which will have a header of “Presidential Alert” and state the following: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

Cellphone users can’t opt out of receiving the WEA test message.

If you have a question about the test, you can email [email protected] or visit the FEMA website.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews | @markeekaenews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

18 Comments

  • Brian September 20, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    Please, please, please let this be WAY harder to use than Twitter! I don’t use or want Twitter and the last thing I need are spur-of-the-moment toilet-texts at 2AM.

  • Redbud September 20, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    We should all feel privileged to have access to messages from Trump 24/7 wherever we are. Drain the swamp! MAGA! Build that wall!

    • iceplant September 20, 2018 at 4:11 pm

      MAGA! Making Attorneys Get Attorneys!
      Or… My Attorney Got Arrested!
      And, my personal favorite, Maralago And Golf Again!

      Dream on, buddy boyo. That wall will never… I repeat, NEVER be built. Get used to it.

      • Redbud September 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm

        The wall will get built, and it just got another inch taller!

        • iceplant September 20, 2018 at 8:54 pm

          Hey Redbud, breaking news: Micheal Cohen is cooperating with special counsel Mueller. How many people is that now? There’s more flipping among Trump’s “best people” than pancakes flipping at IHOP.
          Your wall won’t get built because the noose around your president’s neck just got much tighter.
          Tick… tock… tick… tock…

          • Happy Commenter September 21, 2018 at 8:33 pm

            Take a chill pill, Libby! You’re drooling!

      • Striker4 September 20, 2018 at 6:39 pm

        I was trolling St George news at 6:36 PM when I came across this load of Gibberish ….mostly another goofy answer …have a nice day icepuddle

        • Real Life September 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

          Being proud of constant trolling might not be that impressing to others.

  • tazzman September 20, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    “This is a YUGE alert! The biggest alert! The largest, most fantastic, alert in history!”

  • Red2Blue310 September 20, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    Maybe he’ll give it over to Stormy…

    • tazzman September 20, 2018 at 10:47 pm

      LOL! Storms coming in, bad, very bad! Sad. The worst Storm of the century. No folks, not a real storm but a lap dancer I knew. She was quite the hail storm. Yuge stormyfront. Yuge. Bad, very bad. Sad.

  • youcandoit September 20, 2018 at 11:26 pm

    Maybe stop listening to fake news and get facts. Would you rather our country turn into Venezuela? This is serious . We are lucky to have a president who cares about America and he has made it great again and now he’s going to keep it great. Stop being against the good he’s doing. Peace

    • justsaying September 21, 2018 at 6:24 am

      lol @ youcandoit

    • Henry September 21, 2018 at 4:16 pm

      He’s raised the debt significantly, created tax cuts for the wealthy and has no idea how to be a diplomat. He doesn’t speak for me – I’m surprised he hasn’t followed his usual business plan and filed bankruptcy for the country.

  • Henry September 21, 2018 at 8:40 am

    Wednesday @12:38p everyone I know in the Las Vegas area received the following message on their cells: “This is Pres. trump. I’m hosting a rally in Las Vegas, NV, this Thursday at 7PM (PST). I expect a HUGE crowd & hope to see you there. RSVP at: trump-rally.com” It came from 1 (702) 935-5224. Why is it that the President is allowed to use this system to promote a Republican political rally during an election year? When will this egotistical man be sent a message that we’re tired of him & his policies? Oh – yeah – it’s mid-terms. GET OUT & VOTE!

    • ladybugavenger September 21, 2018 at 11:51 am

      So, are you going?

      • Henry September 21, 2018 at 4:14 pm

        He’s not my president.

        • Happy Commenter September 21, 2018 at 8:34 pm

          Like it or not, he is..hahahahahaha!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.