Nationwide Test Of Emergency Alert System Scheduled For Wednesday

DENVER (CBS4) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will partner with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019 to conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

Testing will begin at 2:20 p.m. EDT which will be 12:20 p.m. for Colorado. The goal is to assess the infrastructure of a national message and to determine if improvements are needed. Officials will specifically be evaluating the readiness of the national alerting capability in the absence of internet connectivity.

This will be the fifth nationwide test of the EAS. Previous national tests were conducted in November 2011, September 2016, September 2017 and October 2018. The tests are in collaboration with the FCC, radio and television stations as well as local emergency management officials.