The Presidential Alert happened today. This test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) System is intended to allow the POTUS to communicate directly with Americans in the event of a national disaster, terrorism, or public safety threat. (A lawsuit argued that these alerts could be used for political purposes and should not be permitted; it was thrown out earlier today).
Unlike other emergency alerts and AMBER alerts, a Presidential alert is one you cannot opt out of. So you should have received it, along with a loud tone, this afternoon (Wed 10/3) at 1:18PM CT. Hopefully, you weren't at the movies or in some other quiet place when it happened.
If you didn't receive the Presidential Alert, then let's just say there's a reason this was a test. Although nearly everyone with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile service should have received it, several people are saying they didn't get it. Some phones simply aren't equipped to receive alerts from the WEA, most of them quite old. Others might have been out of range from a cell tower, and still others may not have a provider that's opted in to WEA. All told, about 25% of us would NOT have received today's message.
But of course, the best thing about anything that 225 million people experience together is the memes. And for us, pics of cute animals. Because it appears the zoos of our nation went all in....