Emergency alert test set for April 2 in Gainesville, Cooke County

GAINESVILLE, Texas — Residents in Gainesville and Cooke County may receive test messages on their mobile phones Thursday, April 2, as local emergency management offices participate in a statewide alert systems drill. The test window runs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The City of Gainesville Office of Emergency Management and the Cooke County Office of Emergency Management are both taking part in the exercise. Two systems will be tested: CodeRED, the county's community notification platform, and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, known as IPAWS, which is used to send emergency messages to cellphones in a given area. Any test alert residents receive will read: "This is a test of the Cooke County/City of Gainesville emergency alert system. This is only a test. No emergency action is required." Because multiple jurisdictions across the region are participating in the same statewide drill, some residents may receive more than one test alert during the window. No action is needed in response to the messages. The exercise is designed to verify that alert systems function correctly and to help agencies assess how effectively messages reach residents before a real emergency occurs. For more information, contact the City of Gainesville at gainesville.tx.us or the Cooke County Office of Emergency Management.