Boca Raton…Delray Beach…Boynton Beach…South Florida… EAS Alert Triggers, But Why?
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
UPDATE: 4 p.m. — The State of Florida updated its response and is now blaming a private company. See below.
UPDATE: It was Florida! The Florida Division of Emergency Management just issued a statement around 8:30 a.m. See it below.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — That alert that woke you up at 4:45 this morning was just a test. The Florida Association of Broadcasters confirms that the test was scheduled, but it’s unclear why cell phone companies relayed the test to Florida phones during a time that many people are still asleep.
If you are among the few that apparently were not affected, here is a recap: phones across South Florida — even in “silent” mode — emitted loud tones around 4:45 this morning with a message that said “EAS Alert, only a test, no action required.” The alert was loud, jarring, and unexpected. It conservatively affected tens of thousands of mobile phone customers in South Florida.
We are awaiting clarification from mobile phone companies for clarification about who or what trigged the test.
Note that you can deactivated government alerts in most cell phones. Doing so will, however, block legitimate alerts from signaling on your phone.
UPDATE: Florida Division of Emergency Management issued this Tweet:
UPDATE 4:00 p.m. — The State of Florida issued this statement around 4 p.m. Thursday:
Emergency alert testing directives originate from the federal government. This morning’s test was supposed to be a test of televised emergency alerts, which the Florida Association of Broadcasters normally schedules for very early in the morning because that is when the fewest people are watching TV (to minimize disruption). Florida contracts with a company called Everbridge to provide the technical coding and instructions required to push out emergency alerts. Everbridge sent the wrong technical specifications for this alert – which ultimately pushed the alert over the Wireless Emergency Alert system (cellphones).
Good government identifies errors, corrects them expediently, and holds people accountable when appropriate. The Division recognizes that this error was unacceptably disruptive and will correct it.
Nonetheless, the Division stresses the importance of being able to receive emergency alerts as disasters can happen at any time and these alerts save lives. Please do maintain emergency alert notifications on your cellular device – we will ensure they are used appropriately henceforth.
