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Many Florida residents woke as much as a screeching alarm round 4:45 a.m. on Thursday, after an early morning check of the emergency alert system blared from their cellphones.
The Florida Division of Emergency Administration, which coordinates and manages alert programs for emergencies akin to hurricanes and different disasters, apologized for the notifications in an announcement.
“The division understands that sudden 4:45 a.m. wake-up calls are irritating and want to apologize for the early morning textual content,” Alecia Collins, a spokeswoman for the company, stated in an e mail.
“Every month, we check emergency alerts on a wide range of platforms, together with radio, tv and textual content alerts,” she stated. “This explicit alert was purported to be on TV, and never disturb anybody already sleeping.”
The alerts jolted some Floridians off the bed on Thursday, and in properties with a number of cellphones, the sounds created an early morning cacophony.
On social media, Floridians complained in regards to the alert and shared screenshots of their phone screens with the notification, which stated: “This can be a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No motion required.”
Ms. Collins stated that the emergency administration company “was taking the suitable motion to take away the corporate liable for submitting the alert this morning.”
The blaring alarms prompted some on social media to elucidate learn how to cease getting these notifications, however Florida’s emergency administration division urged folks to not flip them off, saying such alerts are vital for public security.
“We wish to stress that whereas this wake-up name was unwarranted, disasters can occur at any time and having a approach to obtain emergency alerts can save lives,” Ms. Collins stated.
Officers in St. Lucie County in southeastern Florida said on Twitter that the alert was despatched to “each wi-fi subscriber” within the state. “Whereas St. Lucie County makes use of the identical system — this notification was not despatched by St. Lucie County,” the assertion stated.
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