Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his administration are calling for accountability following what the governor described as a “completely inappropriate” use of the emergency alert system after a test alert was sent in the early hours of the morning.
Floridians received the emergency alert message at 4:45 a.m. which read, “TEST — This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”
Hours later, the Florida Division of Emergency Management issued an apology.
“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,” the alert read.
“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,” the agency added:
The DeSantis administration has since teased forthcoming accountability for those responsible for the ill-timed alert.
“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,” DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said on social media:
Seminole County emergency manager Alan Harris stressed the importance of the alerts when used in the right capacity, as they are the “only way for emergency officials to notify the community of tornadoes, wildfires, evacuations.”
DeSantis also said Thursday that he has “ordered FL Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie to bring swift accountability for the test of the emergency alert system in the wee hours of the morning.”
“This was a completely inappropriate use of this system,” he said. “Stay tuned.”
This story is developing.