According to federal sources, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) plans a joint national test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) this summer. It’s targeting August 11 for a simultaneous test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS).
IPAWS is a national system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency alert and information messaging to the public through cell phones and internet applications using WEA, and to radio and television stations and cable systems via the EAS. A joint national WEA/EAS test was last conducted in 2018.
The 2018 test was the first nationwide trial of WEA and the first live joint test for both alerting messaging technologies, Inside Towers reported. The FCC said at the time the successful test demonstrated the effectiveness of WEA and the EAS as nationwide alerting tools.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, FEMA did not conduct a national test of the IPAWS in 2020.
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