LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is collaborating with the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a nationwide emergency alert test.

The test is scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday, October. 4th.

The EAS test will be sent to televisions and radios. This will be the seventh time the test has taken place nationwide. 

The Wireless Emergency Alerts test, or WEA test, will be sent to all cell phones. This alert will either be in Spanish or English, depending on the phone’s language settings.

Austin Randazzo, Associate Chief of the Federal Communications Commission, said that gathering information from these tests helps to make them more effective in the event of an actual emergency.

“When it comes to evaluating the result of the emergency test, the FCC is collecting information from EAS participants and participants of WEA,” said Randazzo.

The test will run for approximately 30 minutes.

Antwane Johnson, FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Director, added the test will not run consecutively.

“Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. That does not mean that cell phones will broadcast the message consecutively,” said Johnson.

Johnson also addressed the issue of domestic abuse victims who may have hidden electronic devices that they do not want to be found during the test.

Even if phones are muted, these devices may still flash, vibrate, or even read out alerts. 

“For those victims, I suggest they turn those devices off for the thirty minutes that these tests are taking place.”