Los Angeles officials mistakenly sent an evacuation alert to about ten million residents of the entire city and surrounding areas. The message even reached people staying away from the fire areas. – At the moment we do not understand what caused this error. It was not human error, said Kevin McGowan, director of the LA County Office of Emergency Management.
According to NBC News, an evacuation alert was sent to the cellphones of about 10 million residents across Los Angeles and surrounding areas around 1 p.m. 16:00 local time on Thursday. This message reached people even in places far away from raging fires.
“An EVACUATION ALERT has been issued for your area. Be alert for any threat and prepare to evacuate. Keep your loved ones, pets and belongings with you,” read the message with a loud alarm. A few moments later, a second message was sent, instructing them to ignore the previous warning, explaining that it was only intended for people in the vicinity of the new fire, the Kenneth fire, which had broken out that afternoon.
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LA authorities are investigating the cause of the error
“This warning was intended only for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills (cities of LA County – ed.) and the West Hills community (neighborhood of LA – ed.),” Kevin McGowan, director of the LA County Emergency Management Office, explained in a statement. . He stressed that it was a mistake to send it to about 10 million people. “We understand that the fire has caused a lot of anxiety, hardship and stress for our residents and we are committed to providing accurate information,” he said.
In a telephone conversation with NBC Los Angeles, he added that when the warnings are sent, certain areas of the county are selected correctly and the systems used to send the warnings are checked. – At the moment we do not understand what caused this error. It was not a human error, the regions were chosen correctly, he noted, adding that work is ongoing to solve the problem.
NBC notes that the news likely caused additional panic and fear among residents of the city and surrounding areas, who are already worried about the fire’s spread. “My whole neighborhood just got an evacuation alert that turned out to be for West Hills, not Beverly Hills. Seriously? As if we weren’t nervous enough already,” wrote one user on X.
– We all keep our finger on the pulse and anxiously sit on the phones, look at the TV, listen to the radio, try to be informed as much as possible, because until now there was no good system (notification – ed.). And then this. You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Rebecca Alvarez-Petit, a West Los Angeles resident who also received the wrong message, in an interview with the BBC.
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Main photo source: PAP/EPA
