WHOOPS!

Floridians Jolted Awake by Obnoxious Emergency Alert Mishap

Millions of cellphones in Florida blared an emergency alert test at 4:45 a.m. Thursday—a test that was meant for TV only.

A state agency in Florida has apologized after they accidentally sent out a blaring emergency alert test to millions of cellphones at the obnoxious time of 4:45 a.m. Thursday. Residents described online how they woke up in a panic just to pick up their cellphones and read, “This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action required.” The Florida Division of Emergency Management took ownership for the mishap, explaining that the startling alert was supposed to be broadcast on TV, not sent to every phone in the state. “We know a 4:45 AM wake up call isn't ideal,” the agency said in a tweet, which was filled with angry replies, including some from residents who said they’d now turned off all alerts from the state. By day’s end, Florida’s emergency management office announced that it’d severed ties with Everbridge—the software firm allegedly responsible for the mistake—and called the erroneous alert “unacceptably disruptive.”