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Warnings about supposed future catastrophes keep popping up! Now, it is the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that will issue a national alert as part of the drills it conducts to prepare the population for a crisis.
What is happening? What is this alert about? According to a statement issued by FEMA, an emergency sound will interrupt televisions and radios across the United States next Tuesday, November 17, 2026.
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For a few moments, regular programming will be interrupted to give way to a national message from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in an exercise that will test the country's ability to transmit alerts in the event of a crisis, such as a war, a natural disaster, earthquakes, or any event that endangers life.
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The drill will begin at 2:20 p.m. ET, and the interruption will last approximately one minute. Although the scenario may seem like it came out of an apocalyptic movie, authorities assure that it is not a real emergency.
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The test will be conducted in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and will reach television and radio stations, in addition to cable services, satellite television, and other participating providers.
Americans might hear the characteristic tones of an emergency alert and see a message on their screens announcing that it is a national exercise. The notice will be available in English and Spanish and will have a clear instruction: there is no reason to panic or take any action.
Will the alert also sound on cell phones?
One of the most notable details of the drill is that cell phones will not receive the test alert. Unlike the 2023 national exercise, when FEMA activated both radio and television broadcasts and wireless notifications, this time authorities will evaluate exclusively the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
In this sense, while screens and speakers transmit the crisis alert message, cell phones will remain out of the exercise.
This does not mean that the United States is going to deactivate emergency alerts on phones. The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system will continue to function to warn about hurricanes, tornadoes, public safety threats, and other situations that pose a real danger. That is to say, if an independent emergency occurs on November 17, compatible cell phones will still be able to receive an official warning.
What will Americans hear during the FEMA test?
At 2:20 p.m. ET, participating stations will interrupt their programs to broadcast the FEMA message. Although the official notice will refer to the period between 2:20 p.m. and 2:50 p.m., this does not mean that television and radio will be off the air for half an hour: the effective interruption is scheduled to last about a minute. Afterward, programs will return to normal.
The backup date for the exercise will be December 3, 2026, in the event that bad weather or a major emergency prevents it from being carried out in November.
[Publicidad]