phone in hand with emergency alert phone notification on screen

Nick Beer/Shutterstock (Licensed)

Everyone’s mad the Emergency Alert System test came two minutes early

Despite warning, it still shocked people.

 

David Covucci

Tech

Posted on Oct 4, 2023

For several weeks, the U.S. government prepped the public to not be shocked by a test of the Emergency Alert System, which would go out to cell phones nationwide today.

When it did, despite its best efforts, everyone was left surprised.

That’s because it came two minutes early.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which ran the system, said the test would run from 1:20pm to 1:50pm CT, although most messages would come at the onset of the window.

But phones across the country begin blaring before then.

People were not pleased.

https://twitter.com/nuffsaidny/status/1709636544233980109

So many people were annoyed by it, the phrase “two minutes early” trended on X.

Most people seemed to have missed that while the FCC mentioned that window, it did note from the outset that the test would happen at “approximately” 1:20 and not precisely at that time.

But the early emergency test broadcast did give people a few extra minutes to crack jokes that they turned into zombies thanks to the alert activating latent virus particles hidden in the COVID-19 vaccine.

No one, it appears, turned into a zombie. At least not yet.

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*First Published: Oct 4, 2023, 2:04 pm CDT