Oct 4 National Emergency Alert Test

[W2R]

You should be able to relate to this clip. I certainly can.

That's EXACTLY what it was like growing up in the early 1950's!!! I especially liked his description of what children like us thought when we heard sirens going off, if even for tests. I remember asking grownups how we could tell if a siren was a test or if the Russians were bombing us at the scheduled test times, like the guy in the clip mentioned!

 

[TrvlBug]

I was at Costco, just leaving the cashier, when it went off. I almost laughed out loud as absolutely everyone got their cellphones out . I just deleted it from my apple watch.

 

[Bigdawg]

Oh boy, do I ever!!! Any one of those kids cowering under their desks could probably have been me. And then, we were also taught to evacuate from the upper floor of our school, in an orderly fashion by using the fire escape.

It's amazing that kids brought up in that era didn't turn out to be raving paranoids.

(Honestly, I didn't jump when my phone rang with the EBS warning today! I had it on my calendar so I wouldn't totally freak. )

After about 25 SCUD alerts in the desert, I gave up and just stayed on my cot. Sleep was more important. My DW's unit had a guy get hit while in the porta john. When it's your time, it's your time. I'm not a raving paranoid. I don't think so at least.

 

[marko]

I'm not a raving paranoid. I don't think so at least.

Still doesn't mean they're not out to getcha.

 

[Bigdawg]

Still doesn't mean they're not out to getcha.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...ways+feel+like+somebody+watching+me&FORM=VDRE

 

[Aerides]

It will be interesting to see if there are any reports of moderate mayhem from places where folks are gathered when this happens - stores, malls, etc. If I was not in the middle of a painting project, I'd be tempted to go to the local Costco (usually busy at that time) to observe what happens .

Do you not have Amber Alerts widely in other states? 99% of people just pull out their phone and stop the noise without even reading it. I get those a few times a year. Had I not known this one had a different reason, I would not have noticed, and done what I always do on those.

 

[harley]

What's a TV?

It's a device name short for Thought Vacuum. Also known as The Opiate of the Masses.

 

[street]

I got it.

 

[disneysteve]

Do you not have Amber Alerts widely in other states? 99% of people just pull out their phone and stop the noise without even reading it. I get those a few times a year. Had I not known this one had a different reason, I would not have noticed, and done what I always do on those.

I turned off Amber alerts and weather alerts very shortly after getting my first smartphone and getting an alert for the first time.

 

[W2R]

I turned off Amber alerts and weather alerts very shortly after getting my first smartphone and getting an alert for the first time.

+1

Me too. It's too bad that apparently the Emergency Broadcast System Alerts cannot be turned off.

 

[Walt34]

Remember duck and cover? .

Sure. Also known as "bend over and kiss your butt goodbye". Living about eight miles from the center of Washington, D.C. even in elementary school we were under no delusions that if the nukes were ever launched we'd be anything more than dust bunnies, if that. We'd seen the history movies of what happened to the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so we kind of wondered why even bother with the drills. The kids who had the audacity to ask that were sent to the principal's office. They still didn't get a good answer.

 

[Calico]

+1

Me too. It's too bad that apparently the Emergency Broadcast System Alerts cannot be turned off.

I read somewhere a week or so ago that even if we turn off the "regular" alerts (Amber, Weather, etc) on our phones, the alert that went out today would be considered a "Presidential Level Alert" and could not be turned off.

The thinking is this level is for threats of a national nature (nuclear attack, 9/11, etc) so it overides the other alerts.

I was curious to see what happened today, but my cat HATES the loud alerts, so I muted my cell phone and watched the screen on the phone. At exactly 2:20 it flashed "Presidential Alert" followed by a lot of "blah blah blah."

My radio was turned off, and I don't own a TV, so the cat's mental health (and mine) survived unscathed.

 

[Car-Guy]

Sure. Also known as "bend over and kiss your butt goodbye". Living about eight miles from the center of Washington, D.C. even in elementary school we were under no delusions that if the nukes were ever launched we'd be anything more than dust bunnies, if that. We'd seen the history movies of what happened to the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so we kind of wondered why even bother with the drills. The kids who had the audacity to ask that were sent to the principal's office. They still didn't get a good answer.

That's pretty much how I felt about it... I guess if your school was far enough away from the blast it might just blow out the windows and ducking and covering might be helpful. That is, until you slowly die from radiation poisoning in the coming months/years.

 

[RunningBum]

Got the first message in Spanish about 1:20:30 CDT. I do not speak Spanish. Next one in English after a minute or so. Another in Spanish about 1:18. We'll see how long this goes on.

Pressing "OK" seems to make the messages go away forever. Apparently no way to retrieve and review.

To see the message again on my Android phone, I went to settings (the gear cog icon), "Safety and emergency", "Wireless Emergency Alerts", "Emergency Alert History" and I can see the full text.

btw below "Emergency Alert History" is an option to receive emergency alerts in Spanish. If you don't want that, toggle it off.

 

[ls99]

It's a device name short for Thought Vacuum. Also known as The Opiate of the Masses.

 

[OldShooter]

To see the message again on my Android phone, I went to settings (the gear cog icon), "Safety and emergency", "Wireless Emergency Alerts", "Emergency Alert History" and I can see the full text.

btw below "Emergency Alert History" is an option to receive emergency alerts in Spanish. If you don't want that, toggle it off.

Thanks. Found the messages, well buried. Good thing we won't have to find them in an emergency.

My phone doesn't show a Spanish switch though.

 

[badatmath]

I forgot to switch it off so it went off at Home Depot. I don't think it was overly noticeable considering there was a forklift driving along the aisle next to me beeping . . . I was like holy crap why is that so loud. . . OH. . . .

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

To see the message again on my Android phone, I went to settings (the gear cog icon), "Safety and emergency", "Wireless Emergency Alerts", "Emergency Alert History" and I can see the full text.

btw below "Emergency Alert History" is an option to receive emergency alerts in Spanish. If you don't want that, toggle it off.

I got my alert in Spanish first then when I hit okay it popped up in English.
I don't have a toggle option to allow me to turn off Spanish but all my other alerts are turned on.

 

[calmloki]

Shared my alert with the Fidelity rep I was on the phone with. It did interrupt conversation for a bit.

 

[MC Rider]

Got it. Not as loud as the fighter jets that fly over. Some of those are REALLY LOUD.

 

[Sunset]

I was in Costco, it was less exciting than I had hoped.

Two summers ago, I was in Canada, when a man in Quebec murdered some people and was on the run.
Canadian friends were pretty surprised (impressed ? ) when I got a Presidential Alert about this dangerous fellow running around......

 

[W2R]

My phone doesn't show a Spanish switch though.

I got my alert in Spanish first then when I hit okay it popped up in English.
I don't have a toggle option to allow me to turn off Spanish but all my other alerts are turned on.

My phone has the Spanish switch, located just where RunningBum said it would be. But Frank's does not, even though we have identical phones (Samsung Galaxy A32).

His guess is that since it's not the phone, perhaps his lack of Spanish/English toggle switch is due to having different carriers (T-Mobile vs Cricket). Oh well. The EBS message was translated from Spanish to English for him after a while, and he took enough Spanish in high school to understand it even in Spanish.