Emergency Alert System to Sound Off Nationwide

Your regularly scheduled programming won't be so regular at 11 a.m. Wednesday. According to a release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and federal agencies, this will be the first time the Emergency Alert System is tested nationwide. So alerts will sound off from New York, to California, to Hawaii and even parts of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

The system is used by government officials, including the president, and the National Weather Service to alert citizens, according to the release. Wednesday's test will allow federal agencies to assess how information might be sent out should a national emergency occur.

• For more information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, click here.

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