Florida Keys residents were rudely awakened early Thursday morning not by the thunderous roars of a storm or the morning rooster. Rather, an emergency alert test sent screeching sounds around 4:45 a.m.
According to state emergency management officials, the alert was sent out by mistake. It had the Florida Department of Emergency Management apologizing and stating that “ a 4:45 a.m. wake up call isn’t ideal” hours later via Twitter.
“@FLSERT wants to apologize for the early morning text. Each month, we test emergency alerts on a variety of platforms. This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping,” the message reads.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chimed in not long after that, stating that he ordered the division of emergency management and Kevin Guthrie, director, to bring swift accountability for the test of the emergency alert system during the wee hours of the morning.
“This was a completely inappropriate use of this system,” he said. “Stay tuned.”
DeSantis’ Press Secretary Bryan Griffin said the party responsible will be held accountable and appropriately discharged.
