Monterey County officials highlight importance of signing up for emergency alerts

Emergency responders in Monterey County are looking at their alert system after two false alarms elsewhere caused widespread panic.

On Tuesday morning, Japanese public broadcast sent out message that read: “NHK news alert. North Korea likely to have launched missile. The government J alert: evacuate inside the building or underground.”

Minutes later, the mistake was corrected.

This came days after a similar alert went out to people in Hawaii, and 5,500 people called 911.

“Everybody out there is looking at their protocols, and going, ‘OK, do we have redundancy in here? Do we have a set of checks and balances to make sure we don’t do this again, particularly with something as critical as the inbound missile?” said Patrick Moore, Monterey County emergency services planner.

Moore said these mistakes highlight the reach of alert systems and perhaps could encourage more people to sign up.

“It’s kind of a wake-up call for everybody. It just indicates how we don’t want the public to be sensitized where they don’t listen to the messages we are pushing to them,” Moore said.

Alert systems can vary greatly, and Central Coast responders said they take every measure to avoid false alarms.

“The software that we use has a test mode and a live mode. We try and work in the test mode side so that nothing gets to the public. We take measures to ensure that even a test message has the word ‘test’ all the way through it, so that, if it does, a mistake is made, (and) it still goes out, it’s a test,” Moore said.

There’s also a vetting process in place, in which responders verify any notices with two or three sources. The emergency manager’s approval is also required.

Right now, there are about 25,000 people subscribed to Alert Monterey County and Nixle alerts.

To sign up, click here.