"The Civil Authorities have issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for all of Alaska beginning at...” read the message that scrolled across television screens.
Bryan Fisher, chief of operations for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, apologized in an email for the false alert. He characterized the slip as a “simple mouse click error.”
On Tuesday night, a homeland security duty officer tasked with sending out the emergency alert system test accidentally selected the thunderstorm warning instead.
The two choices — “RWT” for required weekly test and “SVT” for severe thunderstorm warning — are located next to each other in the computer program that handles the alerts, said information officer Jeremy Zidek.
“It’s not something we usually use here in Alaska,” Zidek said of the thunderstorm alert. But the nationwide alert system has its selections built in, he said.
Incorrect alerts have been sent out before. A false Amber Alert was broadcast several years ago, and the state has experienced difficulties with its yearly tsunami warning system tests on the Kenai Peninsula. The tests have set off sirens in the area, Zidek said, prompting some to believe the alert is the real deal.
“It probably won’t be the last time we have something go out on accident, but it’s important that people still heed those warnings and act when appropriate to do so,” he said.
Zidek noted an upcoming tsunami warning test is slated for March 25 at 10:30 a.m. He asked Alaskans who hear that message to go online to ready.alaska.gov/survey and provide feedback.
©2015 the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
