It's been a while since we have had a national emergency alert come up on our devices, but that doesn't mean that we never will. After the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a need to look into the national emergency alert system and how effective it is. Another issue that has arisen within the last few weeks is the number of citizens in Maui who were unaware of the incoming wildfire.

After so many lost their lives and homes after being unaware of the impending danger both the state government in Hawaii and the national government are under scrutiny about their alert systems. Many news outlets and individuals on Twitter are asking how something like this can happen and are worried that something like this could happen to them or their community without being warned.

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The United States government sprang quickly into action as they sent aid out to Maui and are working to help that community get back on its feet. To answer all the burning questions from the rest of America they have decided to test the National Emergency Alert system that they have in place. The current system is used to alert U.S. citizens of dangerous weather, natural disasters, and attacks.

The test will come to all cell phones, televisions, and radios. The test will either show us as a text on your cell phone or an interrupted message on your television or radio. The  Federal Emergency Management Agency and FCC conducted alert will interrupt all cell phone, television, and radio service on Wednesday, October 4th at 2:20 pm EST.

It's important to have a battery-powered or crank radio within your home because in cases like Maui, the cell service is jammed from overuse. Also, in the case of the apocalypse and there is no television or cell service, radio will be working. Although you will still be startled when the alert comes through, you can relax a little bit knowing that it's just a test.

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Gallery Credit: Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM

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The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system allows government officials to immediately and automatically push messages to all cell phones and mobile devices within a specific geographical area. There are a total of 13 types of messages that can currently be sent as a Wireless Emergency Alert. Nine of them are weather-related warnings, including one that is brand new as of August 2021.

Gallery Credit: Dan Zarrow

How to Set a Contact as an Emergency Bypass on Your iPhone

This safety feature will make sure you don't miss an important phone call by allowing this person to bypass your phone's silent setting. Basically if your phone is on silent, if this contact calls you it will ring so you absolutely don't miss their call.

Gallery Credit: Melissa Awesome

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