Civil Defence will be live testing their emergency mobile alerts this Sunday .
This will be the first national test of the new emergency alert channel being rolled out by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management and will happen between 6 and 7pm.
Director of Emergency Management Bay of Plenty, Clinton Naude, said emergency mobile alerts had been developed to help keep the public safe in an emergency.
"These alerts are messages about emergencies sent to mobile phones enabled to receive them. It is expected around one third of phones will initially be able to receive the alerts.
"This number is expected to rise substantially over time as people replace their phones with newer models," he said.
Naude said these alerts would not replace other alerting channels.
"I cannot stress enough that these alerts do not replace other alerting channels we would use in an emergency. In an event we make use of all communication channels available to us."
What you need to know about this test:
- The alerts are sent using cell broadcast technology, so there is no need to sign up or download an app.
- Before the test you should visit www.civildefence.govt.nz and check whether your phone is up-to-date and can receive the alerts.
- If you feel your life is in danger, don't wait for an official warning. Take immediate action.