The Rockwall County Office of Emergency Management announced on March 12 that it will take part in a statewide emergency alert drill scheduled for April 2, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. The exercise will involve sending test messages through both the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and Nixle Emergency Alerts.
The purpose of the drill is to allow cities, counties, school districts, and other entities with emergency alerting authority to test their systems. This is important for ensuring that residents receive timely information during emergencies.
According to the announcement, residents can sign up for Nixle alerts by texting “RCOEM” to 888777. These alerts provide updates about emergencies, road closures, and other significant events. IPAWS enables officials to send a single message across multiple platforms such as NOAA Weather Radios, television and radio broadcasts, internet-based services, and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) sent directly to cell phones.
The Office clarified that while it can issue most types of emergency alerts within Rockwall County and its cities, AMBER Alerts are issued by the state and weather alerts come from the National Weather Service. Wireless Emergency Alerts are broadcast via cell towers rather than sent directly to individual phones; as a result, people may receive alerts from more than one county depending on which tower their phone is connected to at the time.
Rockwall County schools have seen an increase in at-risk students by 3.4% during the 2023-24 school year, totaling 7,777 students according to the Texas Education Agency. The county ranked 48th highest in Texas for total at-risk student enrollment during this period according to the Texas Education Agency. White students made up the largest ethnic group in Rockwall County schools with 12,123 students or 51.7% of enrollment; Hispanic students were second with 6,172 students or 26.3% according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
On April 2 at 10:00 AM, two test messages will be sent: a Nixle message stating “Test This is a test of the Rockwall County Emergency Management Nixle Emergency Alert System. More details at facebook.com/rcemo Test,” and a Wireless Emergency Alert reading “Test: Rockwall County Emergency Management is testing our emergency alert system. Test.”
Residents with questions about the upcoming test are encouraged to contact emergencymanagement@rockwallcountytexas.com.
