[sbe-eas] UI is hard: Why did Floridians wake up to an early-morning emergency alert?

[Sean Donelan]

Full statement from Florida DEM:

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.



Full statement from EverBridge


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.