The U.S. federal government is scheduled to conduct a nationwide emergency alerts test on Wednesday.
The national test will consist of two portions, testing the capabilities of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), according to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. Wednesday Eastern Time.
The WEA portion of the test will be directed to consumer cell phones. The EAS portion of the test will be sent to radios and televisions.
The purpose of the test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level, according to FEMA.