Jessica Hartogs
Published Oct 3, 2018
Today marked the first nationwide test of the presidential emergency alert system. Cellphones across the U.S. received a text at 2:18 p.m. ET saying, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The alerts were also broadcast on TVs; landlines did not receive a call, however. The presidential alerts are mostly used in cases of extreme weather and evacuation. They were enacted by the Communications Act of 1934 and have been used approximately 40,000 times since 2012, according to the FCC, which works with wireless companies to send the alerts out.