FEMA and FCC will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system.  That means today you will receive a WAS test message on your cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA.  Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:18pm EDT (11:18am PDT).

So when your cell phones start screaming at you, that is what’s going on!  For more information, visit https://www.fema.gov/emergency-alert-test.