Montgomery County to Test Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) Using the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- On Tuesday, March 19, 2019 the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (MCOHSEM), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct three tests of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) text message using the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).

The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s system used to distribute alert and warning messages. IPAWS is a comprehensive, coordinated, integrated system that can be used by authorized public officials to deliver effective, life-saving, alert messages to the public. This is the same system used for Amber Alerts, National Weather Service (NWS) Alerts, and Silver Alerts. The public cannot opt out of these messages, these messages are for the interest of public safety and will be received by all cellular devices in the associated area of the message.

In the time of a natural or man-made disaster, or to secure the safety of the residents of Montgomery County, the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, will use this method of messaging to alert the public of evacuations, shelter-in-place, areas to avoid etc.

These tests will assess the operational readiness of the IPAWS infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine if technological improvements are needed. This will be the first IPAWS WEA test specifically for Montgomery County.

Please note that some public will receive more than one test message in a short amount of time. We want to assure the public that this testing will not become the norm but is necessary to ensure their safety.

The test message will read “MCTXALERTS: TEST -This is a test of the Montgomery County Wireless Emergency Alerts. No action is required.'

There will be three test location:
1) Montgomery County - Countywide at approximately 10:15 AM 2) Geo-located test over the Montgomery County Airport and fairgrounds at approximately 11:15 AM 3) Geo-located test over the Woodlands Mall at approximately 11:30 AM