Last month, wildfires broke out across the greater Los Angeles area, leading to a confirmed 29 fatalities and untold millions worth of damage. The government’s emergency alert system thankfully was able to warn those who were at risk to evacuate, preventing what could have been a much higher death total. Things did not go exactly as planned, however, as a false evacuation alert was accidentally sent out to 10 million Los Angeles residents. An alert on January 9th ordering evacuation was sent out across the entirety of Los Angeles County, instead of being limited to those who were of immediate risk.
California’s House of Representatives are now looking into the matter to determine the cause of the mishap, and if any steps are needed to prevent such an error being made in the future. Los Angeles County officials state that they are looking into the matter alongside FEMA and the FCC to optimize the emergency alert system.
“Appropriately timed, targeted, and clear emergency alert messages can mean the difference between life and death,” reads a letter to county officials, as well as FEMA, the FCC, and software company Genasys, per The Verge. “However, unclear messages sent to the wrong locations, multiple times and after the emergency has passed, can lead to alerting fatigue and erosion of public trust.”
