SEATTLE – On June 5 at 1 p.m., the City of Seattle Office of Emergency Management will send two test messages through the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system. The alert will only be sent to those who have opted to receive local test messages through WEA and to a small geographic area in, and around the T-Mobile and Lumen Field Stadium complex. The message will state: “This is a test of Wireless Emergency Alerts by the City of Seattle. No action is required.”
The national WEA system is an essential part of the City’s emergency preparedness and response. This public safety system allows customers who own compatible devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. The most common example of these alerts is the “Amber Alerts” sent by Washington State Patrol that directly ping mobile phones.
The two test messages, which will be sent back-to-back, are being conducted to refine the notification zone that would be used to warn of an emergency impacting T-Mobile and Lumen Field during All-Star Week. Because this only involves a test of the system, only those mobile phone users who have opted in to receive test messages will receive the messages.
Twenty volunteers from Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management Auxiliary Communication Services will stage in locations on and surrounding the two stadiums during the test to confirm receipt of the message. Results will be collected by Seattle OEM to determine the reach of the system.
The test is a part of the contingency planning to prepare for unanticipated events that would require the City to provide protective action information to attendees of events during the All-Star Week. In any emergency, the City is would use the WEA and AlertSeattle systems among other methods to notify people of an emergency effecting the two stadiums.
Members of the public are encouraged to proactively sign-up for AlertSeattle to receive emergency notifications from the City of Seattle: alert.seattle.gov.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
For questions about the WEA test:
Ken Neafcy
Operations Coordinator
Seattle Office of Emergency Management
Kenneth.neafcy@seattle.gov