At about 1:55 tomorrow afternoon, don’t be surprised if your phone starts going off a little more emphatically than usual.
Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s Emergency Management Organization has said the National Public Alerting System, Alert Ready, will issue an emergency alert test message on multiple communication channels tomorrow, May 7 at 1:55 p.m. These channels include TV, radio, and certain cell phones.
“Testing of all components is an important and necessary part of any public alerting system,” reads a press release from the provincial government. “It provides an opportunity to validate and improve the end-to-end performance and reliability of the system to ensure it operates as intended on TV, radio and compatible wireless devices. Test alerts also educate the public on what an emergency alert will look and sound like in an emergency event.”
The release also noted that not every cell phone will get the alert. If you don’t get one, it may be because of device compatibility, connection to an LTE network, cell tower coverage, or device software and settings.
You can learn more about these alerts at www.alertready.ca
