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Many Florida residents were awakened by a screeching alarm around 4:45 a.m. on Thursday after an early morning test of the emergency alert system rang from their cell phones.
The Florida Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates and manages warning systems for emergencies such as hurricanes and other disasters, apologized for the notification in a statement.
“The department understands the frustration of an unexpected wake-up call at 4:45 a.m. and would like to apologize for the early morning text,” spokeswoman Alecia Collins said in an email.
“Every month we test emergency alerts across different platforms, including radio, TV, and text alerts,” she said. “This particular alert was supposed to be televised and should not disturb people who are already asleep.”
The alert shook some Floridians out of bed on Thursday, and in homes with multiple cellphones, the sounds created an early-morning cacophony.
On social media, Floridians complained about the alert, share screenshot their phone screen “This is an emergency alert system test. No action required.”
St. Lucie county official in southeastern Florida said on Twitter An alert has been sent to all wireless subscribers for the state. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the number of wireless subscribers in Florida in 2021 will exceed 22.8 million.
According to Collins, Thursday morning’s test was typically considered for television alerts that aired early in the morning, when viewers were least likely, to minimize disruption.
She said the emergency management agency “is taking appropriate steps to remove the company responsible for sending the alert this morning.”
Collins said Everbridge, a state-contracted software company, sent in the wrong technical specs for the warning. Everbridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Governor Ron DeSantis said on Twitter He ordered authorities to “expeditiously carry out a test of the emergency warning system in the morning.”
“This was a completely inappropriate use of this system,” he added.
The blaring alarm prompted some to explain how to stop these notifications on social media, but the Florida Department of Emergency Management said such alerts are important to public safety and turned them off. I urged people not to
The Tampa Bay National Weather Service also acknowledged that the warning was “inconvenient”, said on Twitter It “strongly” discouraged people from disabling the alerts, as they could miss weather alerts that “could mean the difference between life and death.”
For over a decade, the United States has sent emergency alerts to mobile phones, but countries such as the United Kingdom have only just adopted the technology.
The first nationwide test of the UK’s new system is scheduled for Sunday, with a plan to help people prepare for tests and future warnings that may be sent due to severe weather such as floods and fires. A large-scale nationwide campaign is underway.
The mistake in Florida wasn’t the first time a cell phone emergency alert test went wrong.
In January 2018, people in Hawaii received a false alert that a ballistic missile had hit, and it took the state about 38 minutes to send out an alert that the first alert was in error. The false warnings were sent by workers with a long track record who believed the state faced a real threat, according to FCC and Hawaii officials.
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