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You could receive text messages from President Donald Trump soon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced last week that it will conduct a national test of its emergency wireless alerts (WEA) later this month. Text alerts, which are sent to cell phones across the country in the event of a national emergency or major weather event, will appear on mobile phones as a "presidential alert" for certain warnings.
You're probably already familiar with these types of cell phone alerts – these are the loud noises that go off on your phone when there's an event like a flash flood alert or an Amber Alert. The new "presidential alerts" will work the same way.
The national public alert system "provides the President with the ability to communicate with the country during a national emergency," the statement said. "The national test will use the same tone and vibration as for all WEA messages (eg, tornado warning, AMBER alert).
And if you ask yourself the question, you can not withdraw from the WEA test. All major mobile operators, plus 100 additional operators, participate in the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and "the President is solely responsible for determining when the national EAS will be activated", according to the FEMA.
Experts who spoke to NBC News said people should not equate Trump's frequent use of Twitter with emergency alerts.
"If you separate that from the politics and personality of any president, then it's a great idea and an incredible use of technology to reach everyone if they're in danger," Karen said. North, program director at the University of Southern California told NBC.
"A system like this seems necessary at a time when most people are disconnected from live media like radio and television," UCLA communications professor Tim Groeling told NBC. "Broadcast-based emergency alert systems have remained professional and unbiased for decades."
The first test of the presidential alerts will take place on September 20th at 14:18 ET.
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