Montgomery County to Participate in April 5 Regional Test of the National Wireless Emergency Alerts System

This announcement is to notify people in Montgomery County about a planned regional test of the national Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system. It will take place on Thursday, April 5, between 10 and 11 a.m.

Expect your WEA-enabled cell phone and other mobile devices to vibrate and produce a loud warning signal twice before receiving a text-like message: “A test of Montgomery County Emergency Wireless Alerts system. No action is required.”

WEA was developed by the Federal Communications Commission in 2012 as a geographically-targeted system to allow notification to those specifically affected by some type of emergency. The state of Maryland sends out Amber Alerts and the National Weather Service can send out weather emergency messages through this system. When appropriate, the President of the United States can also send an emergency message to the entire Country.

You don’t sign up or register for these alerts, they come automatically to WEA-enabled cell phones and other mobile devices. Over 33,000 WEA messages have been sent across the county. However, many people in our area have never received one.

That’s why we don’t want the public to be surprised when the testing occurs. It will be taking place simultaneously in 20 jurisdictions in the National Capital Region. So if you are traveling through the area during the testing time, you should receive a WEA test message from each jurisdiction you pass through. This time, it is just a test, not an indication that there is an actual emergency, and there is no cause for alarm.

Please take a moment to review the information about the WEA test, and help us spread the word, by sharing this information to your neighbors, friends and family, especially our senior community members. Find additional information, including a list of all the participating jurisdictions, at: WEA Test.