Posted on 10/12/2011 12:40:29 PM PDT by TaraP
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The nationwide test will occur on Wednesday, November 9 at 2 p.m. eastern standard time and may last up to three and a half minutes.
The EAS is a national alert and warning system established to enable the President of the United States to address the American public during emergencies. NOAA's National Weather Service, governors and state and local emergency authorities also use parts of the system to issue more localized emergency alerts.
Similar to local EAS tests that are already conducted frequently, the nationwide test will involve broadcast radio and television stations, cable television, satellite radio and television services and wireline video service providers across all states and the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
On November 9, the public will hear a message indicating that "This is a test." The audio message will be the same for both radio and television. Under the FCC's rules, radio and television broadcasters, cable operators, satellite digital audio radio service providers, direct broadcast satellite service providers and wireline video service providers are required to receive and transmit presidential EAS messages to the public. A national test will help the federal partners and EAS participants determine the reliability of the system and its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential dangers nationally and regionally.
"A national test of our Emergency Alert System, with the vital communications support and involvement of participants, is a step towards ensuring that the alert and warning community is prepared to deliver critical information that can help save lives and protect property," said Damon Penn, FEMA's Assistant Administrator of National Continuity Programs. "Because there has never been an activation of the Emergency Alert System on a national level, FEMA views this test as an excellent opportunity to assess the readiness and effectiveness of the current system. It is important to remember that this is not a pass or fail test, but a chance to establish a baseline for making incremental improvements to the Emergency Alert System with ongoing and future testing. It is also important to remember that the Emergency Alert System is one of many tools in our communications toolbox, and we will continue to work on additional channels that can be a lifeline of information for people during an emergency."
"The upcoming national test is critical to ensuring that the EAS works as designed," said Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. "As recent disasters here at home and in Japan have reminded us, a reliable and effective emergency alert and warning system is key to ensuring the public's safety during times of emergency. We look forward to working with FEMA in preparation for this important test."
Over the past two years and as part of ongoing national preparedness planning efforts, FEMA, the FCC and other federal partners, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, Emergency Alert System participants and other stakeholders have been working toward making this test a reality.
JUST SAYIN: The close Earth approach of 2005 YU55 on Nov. 8, is unusual since it is close and big. On average, one wouldn’t expect an object this big to pass this close but every 30 years,” said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
All,
Dropping everything now to go stock up on tinfoil. Back later.
FRegards
Elenin?
The asteroid will come no closer than 202,000 miles to the Earth, and there is no chance of it hitting the earth for at least the next 100 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_YU55
Apparently it’s an Elenin and YU55 conspiracy. But don’t waste a good rapture! Advertise here now!
****************
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Rapture In The Air Now » RITA Supernatural Forum » Our Mathematical God: Witness of the Stars
ELENIN 2010 SO16 .......... 2005 YU55 .......... Discovery In Stellarium Planetary Software(4 posts) (2 voices)
I’ll be sure and tune to 640 on my dial. Or was it 1240?
CONELRAD
To be quite honest, this is a GOOD idea.
When the EAS was the good ol’ EBS, to the best of my knowledge it was NEVER tested on a national scale. If you worked at a radio station, you were supposed to be up on any situation the EBS could throw at you. (As a former deejay, I did happen to read the EBS Manual the FCC provided to all radio stations. I even played our station’s “end of the world” cart tape to hear what it sounded like. Chilled me to the bone.)
A national test of the EAS could show if there are any bugs in the system and to see if it actually works as planned. Yes, those who think this could be a way for Barry the Boob to issue ‘proclamations’ will think what they will, but I still think it’s a good idea.
Very funny..
Time will only tell IMHO....
Do you remember what the EOTW message said? Can you tell us?
Sooo- Barry the Imposter is giving us a year’s warning that he will declare Martial Law??? Good luck, phony.
Thank goodness. I feel much better. Although with the words "Advertise Here" in Larry's post I was afraid it was some kind of nefarious bloggers conspiracy.
;-)
It just was basically from a script provided by the FCC that said that it was a national emergency as ordered by the President. It also said we’d remain on the air and would pass on important information and news, and to stand by for further instructions. It was designed to be played over and over again until either A) we’d received further instructions or B) we vaporized in a nuclear fireball.
When you’re sitting in a radio studio, you’re alone, and it’s 2 o’clock in the morning, and you’re listening to this...it’ll give you the screaming willies.
I actually DID have to relay an EBS message once. It was weather-related. I was alone on a weekend, and it was dark, rainy, and windy. All of a sudden, I hear the two-tone EBS signal go off BEHIND me. I nearly jumped out of my skin! What happened was that we monitored the Primary station for our area and when THEY fire off the tone, the monitor triggered in our instrument rack behind the operator and relayed the tone and message until we reset it when the message was done. Our engineer rigged a tape recorder to automatically start whenever the monitor went off. All I had to do was rewind the tape, cue it to the message, pot down the music, and say in my most serious and stentorian tones...
“We interrupt this program for a local emergency. Important information will follow.”
I then hit the EBS Tone button on our board, waited until it stopped, then played the message. It was something about high winds and power outages. When it was done, I fired a station ID and played the next song in rotation. After I’d logged it, I then attempted to re-start my heart and get my breath back with the firm knowledge that I NEVER wanted to do that ever again.
I’ve heard that aircheck before. I can only imagine what was going through their heads as this unfolded.
And, when I read the website that you posted with all the links about what happened that day, I found out I was ‘sort-of’ wrong about the system having never been tested nationally. In 1956, there was a national test of the CONELRAD system. It wasn’t the same as the EBS, but it was national, and stations actually signed off or re-tuned to their assigned CONELRAD frequencies. It only lasted about 15 minutes.
Wild. I had never heard of that before. Of course I was only a year old at the time.
Thanks for telling us. You write well, it was a good read.
that.s where you are wrong it will pass .099 ld
which would make it about 2000 miles
I also did some research into the national test. Some things i learned:
1) Neither voice nor image of Barry the Boob will be used in this test. Thank God for small favors.
2) The message is going to be audio only. TV stations will be carrying it, but there is NO standard format for what the station will show on screen...some will be blank. I can just imagine some 80-year-old grandma who had no clue this was coming down, seeing her TV go blank and hearing the activation “quacks” and having a good solid heart attack, thinking it’s Doomsday.
3) State and local emergency messages are limited at all times to 2 minutes. Presidential messages are unlimited. For the sake of this test, it will last 3 minutes.
4) They plan on doing this every year.
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