Special Announcement: FEMA Advisory – FEMA to Conduct Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in New England – Wednesday 9/16/15 at 220 PM EDT

Hello to all..

The following is a complete announcement from FEMA regarding a test of the Emergency Alert System as part of National Preparedness Month:

FEMA ADVISORY
FEMA To Conduct Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
September 14, 2015

As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) mission to strengthen preparedness and resiliency during National Preparedness Month, FEMA, state and tribal emergency managers, and state broadcasters associations will conduct a test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS will be tested in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island on Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 2:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, and will last approximately one minute.

The test will be seen and heard by the public over radio, television and cable TV systems, with only minor disruptions in programming.  It’s designed to occur during the state’s regular monthly EAS test conducted by local broadcasters in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. (It’s also possible the EAS test could be heard or seen in upper New York, as some stations in New England can be received across the New York border.)

The message will be the same as typical EAS test messages, with the word “national” added to the message: “This is a national test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test…” The test is designed to have limited impact on the public, with only minor disruptions in radio and TV programs.

The test requires that participating radio and television stations make a minor configuration change to their station EAS equipment to receive a National Periodic Test (NPT) code message.  EAS stations will receive and broadcast a national test message from FEMA’s system known to broadcasters and state alerting officials as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System or IPAWS.  Participation in the test on September 16th is completely voluntary for radio and TV stations and cable operators in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There is no Federal Communications Commission regulatory liability for stations that choose not to participate.  Comprehensive testing and analyzing of alerting technologies will ensure that an effective and reliable system will exist to alert members of tribes, and residents in all six states if an emergency occurs.

The FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System also supports capabilities for state and local alerting authorities to distribute emergency alerts to cellular phones as Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), to broadcast non-weather emergency information to NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radios, and to publish emergency information and alerts to the Internet connected to unique alerting systems that monitor and redistribute alerts through various Internet applications, services, or websites.  Internet redistributors of emergency information can include Facebook, Twitter, websites, digital signs and specialized applications (APPS). Devices that serve people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs can also pick up the redistributed alert messages through the FEMA All-Hazards Information Feed partners.  While IPAWS supports all of these other capabilities, the test on September 16 will only include the Emergency Alert System through radio, television, and cable TV systems.

In 2007, FEMA began modernizing the nation’s public alert and warning system by integrating new technologies into the existing alert systems.  The new system, known as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) became operational in 2011 and today supports over 700 local, state, and federal users and uses a standardized message format to enable public safety alerting authorities to send the same alert and warning message over multiple communication pathways at the same time to citizens in harm’s way, helping to save lives.

Public safety officials need to be sure that in times of an emergency or disaster, they have methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public when needed.  Periodic testing of public alert and warning systems is a way to analyze and determine what improvements in technologies need to be made.

September is also National Preparedness Month, and FEMA reminds the residents of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to be informed about emergencies that could happen in their community.  FEMA’s theme this year: Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today. FEMA is encouraging the public to take action now and to make a plan with your community, your family, and for your pets.   Plan how to stay safe and communicate during the disasters that can affect your community.  Get involved. Build an emergency supply kit.  Go to www.READY.gov<http://www.READY.gov> for more information.

For more information on FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, go to: www.fema.gov/ipaws<http://www.fema.gov/ipaws>.  For more preparedness information, go to www.ready.gov<http://www.ready.gov>.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

###

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/wx1box

Hello to all..

The following is a complete announcement from FEMA regarding a test of the Emergency Alert System as part of National Preparedness Month:

FEMA ADVISORY
FEMA To Conduct Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
September 14, 2015

As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) mission to strengthen preparedness and resiliency during National Preparedness Month, FEMA, state and tribal emergency managers, and state broadcasters associations will conduct a test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS will be tested in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island on Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 2:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, and will last approximately one minute.

The test will be seen and heard by the public over radio, television and cable TV systems, with only minor disruptions in programming.  It’s designed to occur during the state’s regular monthly EAS test conducted by local broadcasters in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. (It’s also possible the EAS test could be heard or seen in upper New York, as some stations in New England can be received across the New York border.)

The message will be the same as typical EAS test messages, with the word “national” added to the message: “This is a national test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test…” The test is designed to have limited impact on the public, with only minor disruptions in radio and TV programs.

The test requires that participating radio and television stations make a minor configuration change to their station EAS equipment to receive a National Periodic Test (NPT) code message.  EAS stations will receive and broadcast a national test message from FEMA’s system known to broadcasters and state alerting officials as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System or IPAWS.  Participation in the test on September 16th is completely voluntary for radio and TV stations and cable operators in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There is no Federal Communications Commission regulatory liability for stations that choose not to participate.  Comprehensive testing and analyzing of alerting technologies will ensure that an effective and reliable system will exist to alert members of tribes, and residents in all six states if an emergency occurs.

The FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System also supports capabilities for state and local alerting authorities to distribute emergency alerts to cellular phones as Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), to broadcast non-weather emergency information to NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radios, and to publish emergency information and alerts to the Internet connected to unique alerting systems that monitor and redistribute alerts through various Internet applications, services, or websites.  Internet redistributors of emergency information can include Facebook, Twitter, websites, digital signs and specialized applications (APPS). Devices that serve people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs can also pick up the redistributed alert messages through the FEMA All-Hazards Information Feed partners.  While IPAWS supports all of these other capabilities, the test on September 16 will only include the Emergency Alert System through radio, television, and cable TV systems.

In 2007, FEMA began modernizing the nation’s public alert and warning system by integrating new technologies into the existing alert systems.  The new system, known as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) became operational in 2011 and today supports over 700 local, state, and federal users and uses a standardized message format to enable public safety alerting authorities to send the same alert and warning message over multiple communication pathways at the same time to citizens in harm’s way, helping to save lives.

Public safety officials need to be sure that in times of an emergency or disaster, they have methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public when needed.  Periodic testing of public alert and warning systems is a way to analyze and determine what improvements in technologies need to be made.

September is also National Preparedness Month, and FEMA reminds the residents of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to be informed about emergencies that could happen in their community.  FEMA’s theme this year: Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today. FEMA is encouraging the public to take action now and to make a plan with your community, your family, and for your pets.   Plan how to stay safe and communicate during the disasters that can affect your community.  Get involved. Build an emergency supply kit.  Go to www.READY.gov<http://www.READY.gov> for more information.

For more information on FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, go to: www.fema.gov/ipaws<http://www.fema.gov/ipaws>.  For more preparedness information, go to www.ready.gov<http://www.ready.gov>.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

###

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/wx1box