Official: Florida has severed its contract with company responsible for errant alert

The Florida Division of Emergency Management has terminated its contract with Everbridge, which state officials said was the firm responsible for the errant emergency test alert that blared from cell phones at 4:45 a.m. Thursday, rousing many Floridians from sleep.

"Yes. The Division has terminated the contract with Everbridge early," said Alecia Collins, the communications director for the Division of Emergency Management in an email. "The expiration date was June 2024."

"We want to stress that while this wake-up call was unwarranted, disasters can happen at any time, and having a way to receive emergency alerts can save lives," she continued.

The alert roused Floridians from their slumber across the state and many turned to Twitter to express their frustration and aggravation.

There was no actual emergency. The helpful message stated the system was just being checked out.

“This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”

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Why did I get an emergency alert on my phone?

Well, many people in the Twitter-verse thought some action might be required: like the firing of whoever decided to test the emergency alert system at 4:45 a.m.

And Gov. Ron DeSantis's spokesman, Bryan Griffin, wrote in a tweet that may be exactly what happens.

"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."

Griffin said DeSantis had nothing to do with the ill-timed test.

Later, in a tweet at 10:44 a.m., DeSantis chimed in. "I've 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."

The Florida Division of Emergency Management apologized and took responsibility for the alert in a tweet and stated that it would take "appropriate action to ensure this will never happen again and that only true emergencies are sent as alerts in the middle of the night."

It wrote that the alert was supposed to be on TV and not disturb anyone sleeping.

The Florida Association of Broadcasters alternates test alerts between 1:50 p.m. and 4:50 a.m. each month. That led to some confusion that it was responsible until the state took ownership of the errant alert.

What caused the badly timed test alert?

Emergency management says testing directives come from the federal government. The division stated that the test in question was supposed to be of televised emergency alerts, which the Florida Association of Broadcasters usually runs early in the morning when the fewest eyes are focused on television screens.

Florida contracts with Everbridge to provide the coding and instructions to push out the emergency alerts, but Everbridge sent the wrong technical specifications, which led to the alert being sent through cellphones, according to the statement.

The News-Journal called Everbridge offices in Boston and Los Angeles but has not yet received a response.

How do I view emergency alerts on my phone?

According to Apple, on Iphones you can go to settings and then notifications. Then scroll to the bottom of the screen. Look for government alerts and then turn the type of alert on or off.

On an Android device, open settings, then tap notifications, and then select the alerts you want.

What are the different types of alerts?

Florida has Ambert alerts for children who are believed to have been abducted. Silver alerts are for missing people with an "irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties," such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Purple alerts are for missing adults with a cognitive, developmental, or emotional disabilities.

Blue alerts are for when a law enforcement officer is killed, has suffered a serious injury, or is missing in the line of duty and the suspect is still at large.

Official: Don't turn off alerts

Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord said in a phone interview that people should not make a rash decision and turn off the alerts on their phone

“We really implore our residents not to do that,” Lord said.

He said the alert that went out on Thursday was on a national system that state and local governments have access to.

He said there are also local alert systems which residents can sign up for.

Lord emphasized that those local systems were not involved in the early morning alert on Thursday.

He said if people want to turn off any alerts then they should limit it to turning off test alerts, although emergency planners would prefer those remain on since they help in making sure the system is working properly.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Official: Florida ends contract with company responsible for alert