When the system is activated, one single outlet takes over the signals of all TV and radio stations in that specific metropolitan area to announce a major crisis. In Chicago, that responsibility falls to powerhouse news/talk station WGN-AM.
So, imagine the shock and horror yesterday when listeners up and down the radio dial suddenly heard WGN morning personality Spike O'Dell interrupting the shows they were listening to and wondering out loud what was going on.
Tom Langmyer, Vice-President and General Manager of WGN-AM:
This system is designed for immediate takeover of the station as soon as the Emergency Action Notification code is received. There is no time to react to it, and we are not supposed to abort it because it could be a real alert.So, what happened? It seems FEMA didn't tell the Illinois Emergency Management Agency that the internal tests would be conducted Tuesday.
The federal government under George W. Bush...as incompetent as ever.
