Emergency Alerts and the Emergency Alert System

The federal government built warning systems for nuclear attack starting with CONELRAD in 1951 and the Emergency Broadcast System in 1963, replaced in 1997 by the Emergency Alert System, which requires radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, and satellite providers to carry alerts. Its first purpose remains letting the President address the nation in a national emergency, but almost all alerts come from the National Weather Service and state and local officials warning of storms, floods, and other dangers.

Since 2012 Wireless Emergency Alerts have sent short messages to cell phones in an affected area, including AMBER alerts for abducted children and warnings of imminent threats, and phone users can opt out of all but presidential alerts. FEMA runs the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, created by an executive order in 2006, which routes alerts from authorized officials to these channels, while the Federal Communications Commission writes the rules for carriers and broadcasters. The first nationwide test of a presidential phone alert took place on October 3, 2018.

Alerts have failed in both directions. On January 13, 2018, an employee of Hawaii's emergency agency mistakenly sent a phone alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile, causing 38 minutes of panic before a correction. In other disasters, including wildfires in California and Maui and the July 2025 floods in Texas, critics said warnings came too late, did not reach people, or were never sent by local officials. Debates continue over who should send alerts, how to reach people without cell service, and how to avoid alert fatigue.