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PEEKSKILL, N.Y. - The first ever nationwide test of the National Emergency Alert System (EAS) will occur on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2:00 p.m.
The purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a way to alert the public of national emergencies. The city anticipates the test will last approximately 30 seconds.
The nationwide test will be conducted jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), the three federal agencies that have EAS management responsibilities.
Although the nationwide EAS Test may resemble the periodic, monthly EAS tests that most Americans are already familiar with, there will be some differences in what viewers will see and hear. City officials said.
Although the activation will include an audio message indicating that this is a test, a visual message indicating that "this is a test" may not appear on every television station, especially for cable subscribers. This is due to the use of a "live" national code the same code that would be used in an actual emergency. FEMA and the FCC are conducting outreach to the public, especially the deaf and hard of hearing, in advance of the test.
Outreach will include specific information tailored to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing and will be readily available at online sites. In addition, FEMA and the FCC will continue to work with EAS participants to explore possible solutions to address this limitation.
FEMA will transmit the EAS code for national level emergencies to Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations on the national level of the EAS. The PEP stations will then rebroadcast the alert to the general public in their broadcast vicinity, as well as to the next level of EAS participants monitoring them. This should continue through all levels of the system, until the national alert has been distributed throughout the entire country.
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