CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It will only be a test. A statewide test of West Virginia’s Public Alert and Warning System is scheduled for approximately 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Antwane Johnson, director of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System or IPAWS for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, tells MetroNews the test is about making sure emergency messages can get to the people who need them–when they need them.
“That’s the primary goal with this test as part of refining all of our alert and warning capabilities across the country, not only from a federal perspective, but for your state and local emergency managers who are really the folks who provide the lion’s share of alerting information that would go out to local citizens,” Johnson said.
FEMA, the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the West Virginia Broadcasters Association along with other agencies will be part of the test that will be comprehensive.
“Testing of the system is done on a fairly regular basis, but it’s typically only the components of IPAWS that are tested individually,” Johnson said. “We’re testing the entire integrated nature of IPAWS with this particular test.”
The test is expected to last approximately two minutes and will be seen and heard over radio, television and cable TV systems during the regular monthly testing of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
Johnson said the goal is “to collect information to inform a broader national test of all of our alerting capabilities across the country with the intent of structuring a test that will ultimately result in fully exercising the system to ensure that emergency-related information can be provided to citizens, on a timely basis, wherever they might be.”
September is National Preparedness Month and FEMA officials have been reminding West Virginians about the emergencies that could happen in their communities and encouraging them to prepare.