FEMA - Emergency Broadcast System Test - October 4th

[Lord Manhammer]

They were two minutes early

Two minutes early in Massachusetts too

 

[tvguy]

It's because I said earlier on this thread that I don't pay attention to the amber alerts. I let others do that. I'm being punished! I'm not going to be saved.

Amber Alerts are rare here. The legal requirements for an Amber Alert are pretty strict. Been years since we had one here. That frankly has frustrated a lot of families of missing children. So here they also have a reverse 9-1-1 phone system that can be used to call the landlines within the immediate area of a missing child. The thinking is, since almost every business, school, hospital etc. still has a landline that is the best way to get the word out. They also go out on NextDoor and Facebook Neighborhood Watch groups. You can get them on your cell phone, but you have to sign up for it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I had my phone on silent (as I do almost all the time) and the alert was silent, it also was at 1:18.

For those wondering about the early aspect, I had read they were releasing the alert to carriers ahead of time so it's possible that depending on your carrier they released it early, I also saw articles that said "approximately just before 2:20pm ET"

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well, shoot. DH got one, but I didn't. Same carrier, and we were in the same place.

I'm not worthy, apparently...

Are both of your phones the exact same?

They did say that some phones may not be compatible with wireless alerts. I assume you also ensured your phone settings were to receive them.

***Obviously no big deal in the end for this test just mentioning some things that could have led to it being different for you.

 

[sam_gordon]

It will supposedly come through whenever the phone is turned back on. At least that's what I heard.

No, it doesn't work light that. If your phone was off (or in airplane mode), you missed it.

 

[kymom99]

My phone was on silent, now that I think about it. I was at work. But it wasn’t powered off

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Our phones (same phone, different providers) both alerted. Naturally, we weren't where the phones were. But, when we got back to where they were, they both showed an alert had happened.

 

[Imzadi]

I got two: one in English and one a few minutes later in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish.

Unfortunately, if this was a real situation, the directions in Spanish would have the more important info to follow.

 

[Kennywood]

 

[Dan Murphy]

This reminds me of the Y2K conspiracy theories. No one turned into a zombie, or if they did, they got beamed up.

Years spent, billions (maybe trillions) spent, preparing for Y2K. Nothing of much consequence happened at midnight. The 'cry wolf' folks say, "wow, all that time and money spent and nothing happened, what a waste." I say, "will we ever know what might have happened if those years and money were not spent preparing?" The answer is, no, we will never know.

Report

 

[Lord Manhammer]

View attachment 799373

It was pretty loud...

 

[Smugpugmug]

 

[slo]

Include me with the ones that had their phone give the alert, but it was only for 10 seconds - I blinked and it was done - LOL

 

[_19disnA]

Anyone with some knowledge of the IT field knows that Y2K was a real issue. Older computer programs had to be modified to ensure things still worked correctly when we went from 1999 to 2000. Many older programs only stored the year as a 2 digit field to save on storage space. Any program using the date function had to be analyzed or changed to avoid unpredictable results when the clock struck midnight. The work done ahead of time meant those programs kept working and didn't cause any issues.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Anyone with some knowledge of the IT field knows that Y2K was a real issue. Older computer programs had to be modified to ensure things still worked correctly when we went from 1999 to 2000. Many older programs only stored the year as a 2 digit field to save on storage space. Any program using the date function had to be analyzed or changed to avoid unpredictable results when the clock struck midnight. The work done ahead of time meant those programs kept working and didn't cause any issues.

As I posted earlier, I so fully agree with you. Time and money well spent.

 

[Kennywood]

 

[lynxstch]

It was no louder than an Amber Alert on our phones. We got them about 2 minutes early also. Weird thing is, we got them on our tv set at the same time. I thought it was just for cell phones. The one on the tv repeated itself 4x.

 

[Imzadi]

Aw, no wonder I didn't get notified. The Enterprise crew handled the situation in time before Earth was annihilated.

 

[luvthatduke]

OK, so I have to contribute something odd.
My mother's next door neighbor had 2 cars parked in the back of their house.
When her phone went off with the test, both of the car's alarms went off!
Because her neighbor has issues, she decided not to turn off the alarms
for a long, long time.
My mother thought she was losing her mind because she couldn't figure out
where the horrible noise was coming from.
The alarms were so loud her fridge and heater were vibrating!.
Anyone else have something odd happen?

 

[PollyannaMom]

Mine went off in the car, and I never got to actually read it.