It’s time, once again, to test the tsunami gear! Expect coastal sirens to scream and your radio and television broadcasts to be interrupted at 11 a.m., and be worried only if that does not happen.

They’re not texting people this time around, but if you live near the coast you might get a phone call before 11 a.m. to warn you that all simulated hell is about to break loose

From the National Weather Service:

The annual Tsunami Warning Communications EAS Test will occur on Wednesday, March 29th between the hours of 11 am and noon. Additional testing will also occur outside of this single hour with some jurisdiction’s reverse calling systems tested before the EAS test. The test will simulate the dissemination of a tsunami warning for Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties for a large tsunami wave originating from far away, such as in Alaska or Japan. Examples of events like this in the past include 1964 (Alaska) and 2011 (Japan) when tsunami waves hit our coastline from far away and caused damage.

The test will trigger the Emergency Alert System (EAS) across the three county area of Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties resulting in alerts on radio and TV broadcasts, weather radio, and activation of tsunami sirens in some areas. The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system for cellular phones will NOT be tested, but in a real emergency it would be activated for a Tsunami Warning. However, some county reverse calling systems are expected to be tested the hour before the test to alert people of the coming tsunami warning system test at 11 am. Unfortunately the Civil Air Patrol will not be able to fly on Wednesday due to the weather conditions.