When the sirens and other alarms go off at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, there is no need to panic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Communications Commission plan to conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System test. This system test is the first of its kind. It is designed to broadcast a nationwide message to the American public. Nothing like it has been conducted in the history of the country, so glitches are expected. The test will run concurrently on all radio and TV bandwidths for about three minutes. Among the errors expected are that the test message or images on TV might not indicate it is just a test, since an actual emergency code will be used. There will be some differences in what viewers will see and hear from past tests. The Georgia Radio Reading Service, a radio station for the blind, visually impaired and print disabled in Georgia, will join the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Shepherd Center and WABE 90.1 FM in the test.
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