A terrible screeching sound buzzed from cell phones across Southwest Florida… and actually everywhere in the country! Here’s why.

With the help of the FCC, the “THIS IS A TEST” message was testing out the effectiveness of FEMA’s national emergency alert system. Unlike other alert systems, there’s no opting in or out. Emergency officials say the nationwide system could let you know about dangers like severe flooding and extreme storms, even if you’re not local to that area.

“The big benefit is especially with us in Southwest Florida is that a lot of people who vacation here in our area,” said Alvin Henderson, the Emergency Management Division Director for Cape Coral Fire. “They may not have that information to opt-in to alerts at the local level. So regardless of being opted in or not, that is broadcasted out to connected devices.”

If your phone was on and receiving service from a participating wireless provider, there’s a big chance you got the test message around 2:20 this afternoon. If your phone was off or in airplane mode, then you may have missed the alert. 

Some people purposely turned their cell signal off after conspiracies about the test started spreading on the internet. Others like Kathy Cobb, who lives in Cape Coral, think the alerts are a great idea.

“I mean a year ago a lot of people weren’t aware of what was even coming down our way with Ian and it just creates a lot more awareness,” she said. “Maybe the alerts could’ve helped people take better action for where they were and try to leave that area if they knew that danger was coming.”

Radio and TV’s that were on got the wireless alert too. FEMA said this was the third nationwide test of wireless alerts and the second nationwide test transmitted to all cellphones. The government agency also said the national test cannot be used to monitor, locate or lock your phone.