TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An extremely early wake-up call, thanks to the test of an emergency alert system, was sent to your phone in error, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
On Twitter, FDEM said the alert was supposed to be sent on TV, which aligns with a schedule on the Florida Association of Broadcaster's website.
According to the schedule, the alerts are sent every month, alternating between 4:50 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.
Because of this incident, the FDEM has confirmed that they will be ending the contract with Everbridge.
EverBridge is contracted by the state to provide the technical coding and instructions required to push out emergency alerts. FDEM said Everbridge sent the wrong technical specifications for Thursday morning's alert, mistakenly sending it out to cell phones statewide.
We know a 4:45 AM wake up call isn't ideal 😅@FLSERT wants to apologize for the early morning text. Each month, we test #emergencyalerts on a variety of platforms. This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping.
— FL Division of Emergency Management (@FLSERT) April 20, 2023
"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," FDEM said on Twitter.
FDEM added in a statement that it's taking appropriate action to remove the company responsible for submitting the alert on Thursday morning.
The full statement is below.
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.
In a statement, EverBridge vowed to continue to look into how the mistake happened.
“We have a long history of supporting the State of Florida and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) dating back to 2016. Our system is used by cities, states, and entire countries around the world. We provide powerful technology that is used for good, and to save lives. There appears to have been an unfortunate procedural error in this monthly test that we are investigating. As mentioned by FDEM, we too regret the inconvenience this test caused the residents of Florida earlier this morning. 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.”
Following the alert, numerous people on social media said they would be or had already deactivated their emergency alerts to avoid another early wake-up call. In a statement, the National Weather Service in Ruskin said it "STRONGLY" discourages people from doing so.
"Deactivating alerts can prevent people from receiving critical, life-saving weather warnings from the National Weather Service," NWS said. "These weather warnings can often occur when people are sleeping. A NOAA Weather Radio is also recommended as another source of these weather warnings."
Joe Borries with Pinellas County Emergency Management echoed those concerns.
"I would just ask folks not to look at this one incident as something to turn off something that is so critical and life-saving to everyone," he said.
Borries said those alerts are helpful in getting out life-saving information as quickly as possible, whether it's about the weather, hazmat situations, or even AMBER Alerts.
"There were 1,127 children successfully recovered through the AMBER Alert system; 131 of those children were actually rescued because of the wireless emergency alert. So they're very important," he added.
Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia (R- Spring Hill) said he'd had enough and would introduce a "Stop Wake Act" as a result of Thursday's accidental alert. That would prevent companies from conducting alert testings from 10 p.m. - 8 a.m.
"Honestly, it was a mistake. But with that mistake, we started realizing that they could send these notifications out at any time," he said.
Senator Ingoglia said he wants to see change as quickly as by the end of this legislative session.
"We are reviewing that right now. So we're trying to look for a vehicle whether it's in the House if they do it and send it back over to us or if we do it in the Senate. We're looking for that because I really want to get this done."
He's not the only lawmaker looking at changes. Senator Bobby Powell (D-West Palm Beach) on Thursday asked the state agency in charge of the emergency alerts to revise the testing time slots.
“In order to prevent such a cell phone mishap again, and in an abundance of caution in the event of human error, I would ask that you consider a more humane, later morning testing time, such as 8 a.m., in place of the 4:50 a.m. time slot?” wrote Senator Powell in a letter to Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie.
