US emergency alert test accidentally exposed several Amish people for having a phone

People in the US have this week been given a look at how the country's emergency alert system works.

Mobile phones lit up on October 4 with a message from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The group was testing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and anyone with a wireless phone who is within range of a cell tower in the US, Puerto Rico, or Guam received a message saying: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

The alert came with a loud noise that would have no doubt shocked a few people who weren't in the know.

However, you can imagine it would have been very quiet in the technology-free Amish communities across the US.

Surprisingly, it seems like it wasn't all that quiet.

A former member of the Amish has revealed in a TikTok video that the emergency alert system revealed there were a few people who had hidden mobile phones.

The Amish don't like technology because it 'weakens the family structure' and therefore people have to do without things like phones, televisions, cars and other devices.

However, some manage to get their hands on a phone through people who are outside of the church.

Eli Yoder is one of those people and he explained that three of his buddies who he's given a phone to have been 'shunned' by the community following this week's test.

When the alert blared out from the devices, it made it very clear that the people had a device that was against the rules.

"One guy said the elders were coming in his driveway and they were there to speak with him about something they heard about him, that he might have to get shunned," Eli said on TikTok.

"Right as that was going on, the alert went off and it was in his pocket.

“Now he’s getting shunned for both. Whatever they were after to shun him and also the cell phone.”

Being shunned is a big deal in the Amish community as you are pretty much cut off from everyone else for whatever rule violation you made.

There are some Amish communities that use a telephone, however they're not allowed in the house.

The device will usually be held in a 'wooden shanty in a nearby location', according to Ohio's Amish Community.

Topics: Technology, US News

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie