The best Florida can say about this morning’s emergency-alert mishap is that it wasn’t as bad as Hawaii’s false alarm in 2018 that missiles were about to rain down on the heads of residents.
The second-best Florida can say is that, with so many retirees, let’s be honest, people were up anyway.
Still, it wasn’t great that a test of the state’s emergency-alert system was blasted out to residents’ phones at 4:45 a.m. on Thursday. And especially not when the governor is trying to burnish his image as an ultra-competent executive. Angry (and very awake) Floridians scorched the government on Twitter, prompting a swift apology from the Division of Emergency Management. “This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping,” the agency explained.
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
Governor Ron DeSantis called the unbidden alarm “completely inappropriate” and vowed “accountability.”
All’s well that ends well. Someone’s getting fired. His press secretary assured: “The party responsible will be held accountable and appropriately discharged.”
This morning's 4:45AM SERT test alert was not appropriate and not done at our direction. The party responsible will be held accountable and appropriately discharged.
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) April 20, 2023