By Lucky Kidd
A national emergency alert test is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:20 PM.
This will actually be two alerts, one of which is activation of the Emergency Alert System on radio and TV stations and most cable systems. This part of the test, which will include a national message explaining the test, will take about a minute. The other part of it is a test of wireless emergency alerts on devices such as cell phones.
In the event there’s an emergency situation going on someplace in the country, the tests will be delayed to October 11th.
Related to this, there have been some concerns related to people who may have a backup cell phone for purposes of trying to escape abuse or a cell phone you don’t want an abusing partner to hear once the alert goes through.
In this case, BrightHouse in Hutchinson recommends you relocate the phone to a place where it can’t be heard or turn it off until it is safe to turn back on after the alert. In the latter case, be aware though the audible alert will come on once the phone is turned back on regardless of how much time has passed.
