TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) shed new light on the emergency alert that was mistakenly sent to millions of Floridians before sunrise Thursday.
In an apology, the division said the 4:45 a.m. alert was intended for television screens.
“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.”
FDEM said the state contracted the company Everbridge to provide the technical coding and instructions required to push out the emergency alerts.
“Everbridge sent the wrong technical specifications for this alert – which ultimately pushed the alert over the Wireless Emergency Alert system (cellphones).”
In a Tweet, Governor Ron DeSantis said he ordered FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie to bring “swift accountability” for the alert that went off in the “wee hours of the morning.”
News Channel 8 later confirmed that FDEM ended its contract with Everbridge in the hours after the incident.
“There appears to have been an unfortunate procedural error in this monthly test that we are investigating,” wrote Everbridge spokesperson Jeff Young in a statement.
Young said the company regrets the inconvenience, adding it has worked with the state of Florida since 2016.
“We are committed to the State of Florida and to FDEM as a partner, as we are with all of our customers, to continue to improve and ensure best practices are applied,” he wrote in a statement.
Lawmakers were just as quick to plan a new provision to a pre-existing bill heading for DeSantis’ desk.
“I’d hate to think that we would have to put something that sensible in the law,” Sen. Blaise Ingoglia said. “But I think it needs to be done.”
The provision, appropriately named the “Stop Wake Act,” would block alerts between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
“Good government identifies errors, corrects them expediently, and holds people accountable when appropriate,” FDEM said in a statement. “The Division recognizes that this error was unacceptably disruptive and will correct it.”
“Were you as angry as I was? I don’t know about you. I’m not a great sleeper. I was pretty upset,” said Attorney General Ashley Moody at a news conference in Lakeland Thursday.
She said she was assured the responsible parties would be held accountable.
The Attorney General urged people to keep their emergency alerts enabled.
“We need to be in communication with people. We need to let them know when these things are happening. We will be having an active hurricane season coming up,” she said.
The National Weather Service in Tampa uses the alert system to notify people about hurricanes, tornadoes, flash floods and other severe weather.
“It’s really important not to silence those because it woke you up, right? That was its general purpose was to wake you up to alert you to something that could save your life, potential life-saving information,” said Matt Anderson, science and operations officer at NWS in Tampa.
Want to disable these alerts? Follow the instructions below, however, authorities advise not to disable these features as they could be critical and life-saving notifications.
“Please do maintain emergency alert notifications on your cellular device,” FDEM said. “We will ensure they are used appropriately henceforth.”
iPhone users:
Tap the Settings app to open it, then tap Notifications. Users need to scroll to the bottom of the screen and find the section that says “Government Alerts.” From there, move the sliders to off/white. Once off, users will no longer receive Amber, Emergency, Public Safety, or Test Alerts.
Android users:
On an Android device, open Settings, then tap Notifications. Find “Wireless emergency alerts” and select the alerts you want to receive.