Florida residents were subjected to a rude awakening in the wee hours of Thursday morning, as smartphones across the state lit up with a predawn emergency alert that officials say was sent “in error.”
On Thursday morning, Florida residents received a test emergency alert at about 4:45 a.m., causing their phones to emit a loud, sharp noise and display a notification that a test was being conducted.
“This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System,” the message said. “No action is required.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the alert “was a completely inappropriate use of this system.”
“I’ve ordered FL Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie to bring swift accountability for the test of the emergency alert system in the wee hours of the morning,” he said. “Stay tuned.”
Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said “[t]he party responsible will be held accountable and appropriately discharged.”
Many of those awoken by the alarm took to social media to express their confusion and displeasure.
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Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, pledged to file legislation to prohibit such tests between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. — a bill he said would be called the “Stop Wake Act,” in apparent homage to the DeSantis-backed “Stop WOKE Act.”
Although it was initially unclear if the early morning test was intentional or the result of a glitch, the Florida Division of Emergency Management took to social media to “apologize for the early morning text,” explaining that the test was meant to air on televisions, not be sent to phones.
“Each month, we test #emergencyalerts on a variety of platforms,” the agency posted on Twitter. “This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping. We are taking the appropriate action to ensure this will never happen again and that only true emergencies are sent as alerts in the middle of the night.”
The Florida Association of Broadcasters (FAB) has an announced schedule for test alerts for TV every month, with February, April, June, August, October and December slated for the early 4:50 a.m. version, while afternoon tests at 1:50 p.m., again for TV only, were scheduled for January, March, May, July, September and November.
Orange County’s alert system, OCAlert.net, also apologized via an emailed statement. The release stated, “The whole of the emergency management community apologizes for this error” while mentioning “steps will be taken to prevent it from occurring again.”
Orange County’s system mentioned there would be “large-scale exercises simulating a major, multi-patient medical emergency” on Thursday. The simulation was expected to lead to increased ambulance traffic around hospitals but it was not anticipated to impact patient care.
jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com