Summary
On September 12, 2022, the Berrien County Emergency Management Team will set off a wireless emergency alert in parts of Saint Joseph and Benton Harbor. The test will be started at 3:00 PM eastern time. The test is intended to test improvements that have been made to geographically based systems. More simply put - we are testing how well people’s devices “see” the circle we draw, realize it is in the circle, and sound the alert.
Impact to Public
All Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) capable devices in the target area will receive the alert described below. Device settings to receive alerts must be enabled.
Date and Time of Test
Monday, September 12, 2022. 3:00PM.
Duration
The test duration is 15 minutes. This means a person outside of the circle at 3PM, who then travels inside the circle by 3:15PM, may receive the alert. They may believe it is a delayed alert, but the alert is actually initiated at the time they entered the circle and their device recognizes that it is in the alerting area.
Location
The center of a 1.5 mile diameter (0.69 mi) circle is near the Berrien County Jail.
A picture is below, but an interactive map is available at this link.
Location Boundaries
- North, the circle will end near Momany Drive in Saint Joseph.
- East, the circle ends near 11th Street and West Britain in Benton Harbor.
- South, Margaret and Langley in Saint Joseph.
- West, Lake Michigan near Silver Beach in Saint Joseph.
Test Content
Those receiving a test will be alerted using a distinct Wireless Emergency Alert Tone and the following text will flash on the screen:
“TEST. Go to https://www.fcc.gov/wea to provide feedback on your receipt of this test.”
Survey Link
https://www.fcc.gov/wea
Safety
Do not respond to the WEA performance test survey if you are driving or doing anything where interacting with a message on your mobile device could be dangerous to you or anyone else. Instead, note where and when you received the test alert and complete the survey when it is safe to do so.
FCC Announcement and Resources Webpage:
https://www.fcc.gov/document/rosenworcel-announces-wireless-emergency-alert-test-partners
What is a WEA?
Enabling a Device
The most common device operating system’s guides are provided here for convenience. Other resources may be found using internet search browsers or contacting your service provider.