National mobile phone emergency test planned today

The biennial NL Alert emergency message test will be happening at 12:00 p.m. today. If all goes well, everyone in the Netherlands should be receiving a message around midday. The NL Alert warning messages were put in use in 2012, in addition to the warning sirens, RTL Nieuws reports. If there is a disaster in your area, say a large fire with hazardous substances, you receive a message on your phone with a warning and instructions on how to proceed, for example, keeping doors and windows closed or evacuating to a certain spot. The technique works similar to a normal text message, but also works when the telephone network is overloaded. While most phones and telephone networks are ready to receive the NL-Alert messages, some phones' settings need to be adjusted to do so. Instructions on how to adjust the necessary settings can be found on the NL-Alert website. The government tests the NL-Alert system, along with sounding the sirens, twice a year. This test is meant to check that everyone's phones are set in to receive the message, but also to familiarize people with the system.