EAS tested in the Wabash Valley

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - An important national test was conducted Wednesday afternoon when for the first time, the national emergency alert system was tested.

At 2 p.m. Eastern Time a nationwide alert system was tested. Jerry Sears is the District 7 Homeland Security Coordinator, and he tells us the test is for, "Any type of emergency that they would want to notify the public for weather related, terrorist or hazardous materials."

J.D. Kesler of Vigo County Emergency Management Agency says, "As you know, Kevin, we were monitoring Fox, Channel 10 and the History Channel. We wanted to see if the test got out to all the channels and it seems like it did."

While Wednesday's effort was only a test, it is important to know, that in the case of a real emergency, alerts can get to the public in a timely, efficient manner.

Here are links to both Indiana and Illinois Homeland Security offices. Each link has winter weather safety information and remember next week is winter weather preparedness week.

http://www.in.gov/dhs/getprepared.htm
http://www.ready.illinois.gov/