Donald Trump Texted Me

It was a pretty sad moment when I realized the only notification I had received all day was basically a text from the president (whom I am not particularly fond of but that's a whole different topic). After the initial disappointment of it not being one of my friends-- although I should have figured it was not you're average text from the alarming sound that scared the crap out of me--had worn off, I thought to myself, "Why in the world did I just get an alert from the president and what does it mean?"

First off, I'm sure many of you received the same message: "Presidential Alert: THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed." This message was sent out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at approximately 2:20pm on Wednesday, October 3rd. It was intended to reach all 225 million cell phones in the U.S. However, some people did not receive the notification. A few of those people made jokes along the lines of "Will I be the first to die because I won't know the nuke is coming?" (WIRED article "why didn't I receive the presidential alert?")

After copious amounts of research I have come to this conclusion: yes, if you did not receive the message you will be the first to die because you won't know the nuke is coming. For those unfortunate fellows, it is probably time to pack up and flee the country.

Just kidding. The agency was testing out a new emergency notification system and various glitches may have prevented people from receiving the alert.

The Presidential Alert-- a.k.a the Integrate Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)--can be thought of as the federal version of the Amber alerts or the local Emergency Alert System that broadcasts extreme weather and similar topics. Essentially, the government is just revamping the system that is already in action, claiming it's a "necessary 21st century update". Wednesday's test was meant to determine how ready the new Presidential Alert is and what improvements need to be made in order for it to be fully functional.

Just to clarify, no President Donald Trump will not be able to use this to text Americans individually. As a matter of fact, very strict guidelines prevent him from even writing the message himself, The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 states that "Except to the extent necessary for testing the public alert and warning system, the public alert and warning system shall not be used to transmit a message that does not relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster or threat to public safety,"

In short, if you did receive the message, congrats. If not, flee the country. The federal government has given our current emergency alert system a makeover (more like plastic surgery) and is required to test it out every three years, which led to the message that may have startled millions of Americans on Wednesday, October 3rd.



Sources:
https://www.wired.com/story/why-didnt-i-get-emergency-presidential-alert-text/
http://time.com/5400574/presidential-alert-donald-trump-fema/