OSWEGO COUNTY – The Oswego County Emergency Management Office warns residents that cellular phones around the county will be activated along with the rest of the country during a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The test starts at approximately 2:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
The national test will be conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Regional television and radio broadcast media will broadcast the EAS test.
The WEA portion will be initiated by FEMA using the agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems (IPAWS), a centralized internet-based system administered by FEMA that enables officials to send authenticated emergency messages to the public through multiple communications networks.
“People may not realize WEA was used Aug. 12 in the Fulton and Oswego areas when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning,” said Cathleen Palmitesso, director of the Oswego County Emergency Management Office. “WEA is also activated for flash flood warnings and blizzard warnings.”
According to FEMA, cell towers will broadcast the test message beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. on Oct. 4. The message on cell phones will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
WEA alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible devices in geo-targeted areas. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with access and functional needs, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration. Older cellular phones may not be capable of receiving these types of alerts.
The EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last about one minute and will be relayed by radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers. The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages. It will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”
Palmitesso also reminded residents that Oswego County extensively conducts testing of its emergency alerting systems as part of its nuclear power plant emergency plan. “Many people across the country don’t have that experience, so this national test is important to ensure everyone is aware of how they would receive important, life-saving emergency messages,” she said.
Oswego County’s nuclear power plant emergency plan relies on the National Weather Service and local EAS stations to relay information that an emergency is occurring at the plants.
“In an emergency, sirens in the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone will sound and that would be followed by a message on EAS stations and NOAA Weather Radio telling people where to get information about the emergency,” said Palmitesso. “That information would be provided to the local broadcast stations and news media and posted on the county’s website at www.oswegocounty.com.”
The Oswego County E-911 Center also uses a mass notification system, Hyper-Reach Broadcast Notification Service, to issue messages to county residents’ phones. These notices may include local emergencies, hostage situations, hazardous materials incidents, missing children alerts, aerial spraying and boil-water advisories or other events.
“While this system will not be tested Oct. 4, it’s important that our county residents know how they will receive information about local emergencies,” Palmitesso noted. “This system uses landline telephone numbers provided by the telephone companies that serve Oswego County as well as cellular phone numbers that residents have provided.”
Hyper-Reach is capable of calling cellular telephones, sending text messages and communicating via TTY to people who have registered their phone numbers at https://signup.hyper-reach.com/hyper_reach/sign_up_page_2/?id=12481.
For more information on emergency planning, or for help signing up for the free Hyper-Reach service, call the Oswego County Emergency Management Office at 315-591-9150 or go to www.oswegocounty.com/emo.
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