As we're all very aware, the Emergency Alert System test happened yesterday... and it came two minutes earlier than expected.
And people were definitely not pleased about it.
The government warned people about the test with the following information provided by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission):
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the FCC, will conduct nationwide tests of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)."
"The tests are scheduled for October 4, 2023, at approximately 2:20 pm EDT, with a back-up test date of October 11, 2023. The alerts must comply with the FCC’s accessibility requirements."
Emphasis on "approximately."
Yes, our phones started blaring with the alert about two minutes before expected, prompting reactions ranging from surprise to outrage.
@PopBase The entire country just bleeped itself— Andrew Mason \ud83d\udcf8 (@Andrew Mason \ud83d\udcf8) 1696443656
And many took to social media to vent.
the emergency thing was two minutes early and i wasn't ready for it:(\n\n oh god......i feel the change coming.....i can't.....resist.....a...aw...aaWOOOOOO— norah\ud83e\uddda\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@norah\ud83e\uddda\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1696443791
Two minutes early\ud83d\ude35\u200d\ud83d\udcab\ud83d\ude35\u200d\ud83d\udcab— General\u2122\ufe0f\ud83d\udc40\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd85 (@General\u2122\ufe0f\ud83d\udc40\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd85) 1696443607
YOU WERE TWO MINUTES EARLY!!!— Shayy (@Shayy) 1696443527
@PopBase I received and I had a panic attack that sound is so scary\ud83d\ude2d— .\ud83e\udee7 (@.\ud83e\udee7) 1696443668
They sent the alert TWO MINUTES EARLY\u2026 I wasn\u2019t ready— out of context pics (@out of context pics) 1696446122
A few, however, did find the early sound-off to be entertaining.
the government after sending out the national alert two minutes early— jacks \ud83d\udd2e (@jacks \ud83d\udd2e) 1696443594
the government official rn who pushed the emergency alert button two minutes early— madison (@madison) 1696444040
The alert after coming two minutes early— \u262d Proudly Commie Scum \u262d (@\u262d Proudly Commie Scum \u262d) 1696443971
The government intern who couldn't wait and sent the FEMA alert two minutes early— Skeletired \u2741 (@Skeletired \u2741) 1696444639
Live look at the people in charge after sending out the #EmergencyAlertSystem TWO MINUTES EARLY:— Will R. V. (@Will R. V.) 1696444459
People on X chattered so much about the event that "two minutes early" was trending on the social media platform.
TWO MINUTES EARLY— SquawK (@SquawK) 1696445255
Well, lesson learned. Always read the fine print!