National Emergency Alert Test Will Run Wednesday

Local government agencies are making every effort to notify residents of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Communications Commission joint national test of the Emergency Alert System, Wednesday, Nov. 9.

The test will kick off at 2 p.m. (EST) and will be nationwide, running concurrently across all time zones.

Because the system test is the first of its kind, some officials worry that the public may be falsely alarmed and have issued numerous warnings leading up to Wednesday's test.

"The test message on TV might not indicate that it is just a test," said a statement released by . "Fear is that the lack of an explanation message might create panic. Please share this information with your agency, family and friends, so they are aware of the test."

It is designed to broadcast a nationwide message to the American public.  Nothing like it has been conducted in the history of the country. There have been emergency system tests in the past, but none to all parts of the nation at the same time. The test will run concurrently on all radio and TV bands for three minutes. 

Most messages in the past ran anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute.

For more information on the test visit the Federal Emergency Mangement Agency online.