HOUSTON – Don’t be alarmed, but 2.3 million residents’ cell phones received an emergency alert from the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system in Houston on Friday, according to the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management.
Houston OEM said on Sept. 5, at 11 a.m., it will send a wireless emergency alert to all residents or cellphones inside the county’s geographic area and city boundaries.
According to a release, the system is based on cell tower coverage, not exact jurisdiction lines. This means some neighboring areas may also receive the alert.
Brian Mason, deputy director and emergency management coordinator for the city of Houston, said the new warning system will look and sound like an Amber Alert.
At the scheduled time, individuals in the Houston area with WEA-mobile capable devices will receive the following message:
“TEST Wireless Emergency Alert from the City of Houston Office of Emergency Management: No Action Required. TEST ALERT. For more information visit HoustonOEM.org .”
Or in Spanish;
“PRUEBA de Alerta Inalámbrica de Emergencia de la Oficina de Manejo de Emergencias de Houston: No se requiere acción. ALERTA DE PRUEBA. Para más información, visite HoustonOEM.org .”
Some individuals with older mobile devices may receive a shorter version of this message.
Houston OEM is working with all major cell phone carriers, which will allow the new alert system to work well with the World Cup so that international phones will also get a message.
The testing will only translate in English and Spanish.
Houston OEM says this is not Alert Houston and only for true life safety or immediate threats.
The City of Houston may issue a WEA warning for:
- Terrorist Activity
- Citywide Weather Emergencies
- Evacuation Orders
- Shelter-in-Place Emergencies
- Other emergencies which require action to protect life
Your phone is likely already opted-in to receive WEA messages.
To receive Wireless Emergency Alerts, your phone must have alerts enabled in your device settings.
- iPhone: Go to Settings > Notifications, scroll to the bottom under Government Alerts, and ensure Emergency Alerts are turned ON.
- Android: Go to Settings > Safety & Emergency > Wireless Emergency Alerts, and make sure Allow Alerts are enabled.