Emergency testing to send alerts Wednesday afternoon

At 1:55 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Alberta Emergency Alert will be activated as part of national public alerting system testing, the province says.

The test emergency notification will be sent to cellphones and played over television and radio programming to test network capabilities.

"Tests are critical, as they help us fix any system issues and make sure that alerts work when we need them," said Mike Ellis, Alberta's minister of public safety and emergency services.

"This helps save lives and protect Albertans during an actual emergency."

Ellis recommended Albertans download the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app to receive messages about emergencies, like tornadoes, Amber Alerts and wildfires.

"When faced with an emergency, always follow instructions from authorities and check for updated alerts."