HILLSBORO, Ohio — Highland County residents may see or hear a brief interruption to their television and radio programming next week as part of a nationwide test of the national Emergency Alert System.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, working with the Federal Communications Commission, will conduct the test at 2:20 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Nov. 17, the Highland County Emergency Management Agency said in a Facebook post. The test message will interrupt TV and radio broadcasts for about a minute before normal programming resumes.
“This is ONLY A TEST,” the agency said, and no action is required by the public.
The Emergency Alert System is the national public warning system that allows the president and federal, state and local officials to address the public during emergencies, delivering alerts over television and radio stations nationwide. FEMA and the FCC periodically test the system to confirm that stations across the country can properly transmit the alert and that the equipment is functioning as intended.
Highland County EMA said the exercise is also a reminder of how critical it is for residents to have multiple ways of receiving emergency information. The agency, based in Hillsboro, coordinates planning, response and recovery for disasters and other hazards across the county and maintains Hyper-Reach, a notification system that sends emergency updates to residents by phone call, text message or email.
“These tests make sure that, in a real emergency, officials can quickly reach you with important safety information through the same channels you use every day,” the agency said in its post, urging residents to sign up for local alerts and to have a household plan for receiving emergency information.
Residents who want to register for Hyper-Reach notifications or learn more about the county’s emergency planning can contact the Highland County EMA office in Hillsboro.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Highland County Emergency Management Agency.
