A regional test of the Emergency Alert System on February 24, 2016 involving 22 states went well – for those stations that received it. But the day of the test six states were left out without the broadcasters being informed (New England was not included).
State emergency management officials requested that FEMA drop Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were also omitted at the request of the National Weather Service because of severe weather that impacted those states earlier in the week.
FEMA was specifically testing the National Periodic Test (NPT) event code through its Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. Stations that successfully received the test say the audio quality was acceptable and there were no breakdowns in the redundant delivery paths.
The FCC and FEMA plan a national EAS test at 2:20 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 28, 2016. All radio and TV stations, and cable franchises, will be required to submit their test results through a web portal as they did during the first national EAS test five years ago.