Manitobans received a notification Wednesday alerting the province of an emergency – but it was just a test.
The ‘Alert Ready’ system test was scheduled for 1:55 p.m.
The test alert was heard on cellphones, TVs, radios and web feeds.
Some rural residents in the province also heard the alert through landlines.
About 25 communities in the province have signed up to get the notifications through a third-party company called All-Net Municipal Solutions.
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The landline option gets the message out to Manitobans who don’t have cellphone coverage, or who simply don’t own a cellphone.
Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler says the province isn’t looking at adding landlines to the list.
“Our sense is that we should still be focused on getting it to our electronic devices because we do know increasingly individuals are getting rid of landlines,” he said.
The province says there will be two tests to the Alert Ready system each year going forward. One would be during the Emergency Preparedness Week and one in November.
The province and phone providers say the test was sent out successfully, if you didn’t get it you should contact your provider, make sure your phone is updated and connected to an LTE network.
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