The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is soon launching weather emergency alerts to your mobile devices. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are emergency messages sent by authorized government authorities through your mobile carrier.
Government partners include local and state public safety agencies, FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Weather Service.
You will be able to sign up for weather-related emergency alerts through your mobile carrier. The alerts will include extreme weather warnings, local emergencies requiring evacuation or immediate action, AMBER alerts and Presidential alerts during a national emergency. The alerts will look like a text message, but will include a special tone and vibration, both repeated twice.
You can also receive alerts based on your phone’s current location. While most older phones are not WEA-capable, new mobile devices are. For information about which mobile devices are WEA-capable, please visit http://www.ctia.org/wea or contact your wireless carrier.
Learn more about Weather Emergency Alerts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 PM Eastern time. It will last 30 seconds.
You may hear a message on radio or television saying, “This is a test.” This national test will help determine the reliability of the system and its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential dangers nationally and regionally.
The Emergency Alert System is a national system to let the President address the public during emergencies. Under the Federal Communications Commission’s rules, radio and television broadcasters, cable operators, satellite providers and wireline video service providers are required to receive and transmit presidential Emergency Alert System messages to the public.
The nationwide test will broadcast across all states and the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
Learn more about the Emergency Alert System test.
Find out how you can prepare for emergencies and what to include in your emergency kit.
If you live in an area that’s likely to flood, you should:
- Listen to the radio or television for local information.
- Be aware of flash floods. If there is any possibility of a flash flood, move immediately to higher ground. Do not wait for instructions to move.
- Be aware of streams, drainage channels, canyons, and other areas known to flood suddenly.
If you have to leave your home, do not walk through moving water or drive into flooded areas.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has more information about what to do during a flood and after a flood.
