Emergency Alert Sounds Off On Cell Phones

Did you receive the alert? Nearly every smart phone in america blared and vibrated with an emergency alert - the first ever test of the national presidential alert system on Wednesday. Horace Ward the Senior Planner with the Yakima Office of Emergency Management says
The Presidential alert is similar to the state-level systems that let police and local authorities send out amber alerts and weather warnings.
if you'd like to be contacted for other more specific situations in your area like a wildfire Ward urges you to sign up for what's called "Alert Yakima."  You'll find information at the Yakima Office of Emergency Management website.