Rockwall County Joins Statewide Emergency Alert Drill on April 2

Phones across Rockwall County will buzz with test messages on the morning of April 2, when the Rockwall County Office of Emergency Management joins a statewide emergency alert drill coordinated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

The exercise begins at 10:00 a.m. and is scheduled to run through noon, though a TDEM notice provided to the county on March 10 listed the window as 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Residents with questions about the precise end time can contact the Office of Emergency Management directly at emergencymanagement@rockwallcountytexas.com. The county announced its participation on March 12, with Public Information Officer Jim Barto submitting the formal release.

During the drill, Rockwall County will push test messages through two systems it uses to communicate during actual emergencies: the Nixle Emergency Alert System and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, known as IPAWS. Notifications may arrive on mobile phones, television, radio, or other alert platforms. The Nixle message residents will see reads: "Test This is a test of the Rockwall County Emergency Management Nixle Emergency Alert System. More details at facebook.com/rcemo Test."

IPAWS delivers what are known as Wireless Emergency Alerts, location-based messages broadcast from cell towers to compatible mobile phones. Because those alerts travel by tower rather than by county line, some residents may receive notifications from more than one jurisdiction. Someone in Royse City, for instance, could receive alerts from both Rockwall County and a neighboring county if their phone happens to be connected to a tower across the county boundary at the time of the test.

No action is required. As the county has emphasized, these alerts are only part of a scheduled test and do not indicate an actual emergency.

The statewide exercise extends well beyond Rockwall County. TDEM organized the drill to let cities, counties, school districts, colleges and universities, councils of government, river authorities, sovereign tribal nations, and law enforcement agencies all test their alerting capabilities on the same morning.

Residents not yet enrolled in Nixle can register before April 2 by texting RCOEM to 888777. That system allows the Office of Emergency Management to send text messages about emergency alerts, road closures, and other public safety information. Additional details are available through the county's emergency management Facebook page or by emailing emergencymanagement@rockwallcountytexas.com.