NORFOLK, VA – The City of Norfolk's Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response was selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as one of 42 alerting authorities in the country to participate in the 2022 Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) performance test. The city's participation in this unprecedented set of WEA tests in locations nationwide will provide valuable information on how this life-saving service is performing at the local level, including data on the geographic accuracy of alert delivery.
The test takes place in the Berkley/Campostella area of Norfolk on Tuesday, September 13, at 3 p.m. and further solidifies the City's commitment to a continued partnership of emergency preparedness with residents. The test area includes a half-mile radius around Fire Station 8 on Frederick Street. The test alert is sent from Norfolk Alert via text and reaches everyone in the testing area; however, only fifteen pre-determined volunteers deployed into the area will need to respond to the FCC's survey included in the text. This test only affects cell phones.
The alert goes live at 3 p.m. on the test date and remains live for 15 minutes. After that time, the message ends and no longer is broadcasted. During the test time, everyone in the half-mile radius of Fire Station 8 will receive the WEA test message via text. This includes anyone traveling into that area during those 15 minutes.
The test alert message will clearly state that it is a test and provide a survey link. Only the City’s designated volunteers for the test alert are required to complete the survey; however, anyone who receives the alert can complete the survey.
WEA-capable mobile devices receive Public Safety Messages, the type of alert that is used for this test, by default. Residents can check settings to ensure they receive alerts:
The City of Norfolk is an Alerting Authority under the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Management Office (PMO). This gives the City the designated authority to alert and warn the public when there is an impending natural or human-made disaster, threat, or dangerous or missing person. There are more than 1,600 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial Alerting Authorities using IPAWS to issue critical public alerts and warnings in their jurisdictions.