The fake emergency alert announcement appeared across televisions in Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, North Carolina, and possibly other states, on Friday, claiming to come from the White House, the Hill reported on Saturday.
The message read: "This station has interrupted its regular programming at the request of the White House to participate in the Emergency Alert
System." However, no real alert message followed.
The radio and TV stations do not have the power to interrupt or dismiss the Emergency Alert signal as it is automatically sent by the federal government.
Later, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) blamed the matter on a radio broadcast that set off the alerts due to a glitch in the system.
“There was an inappropriate playing of the national emergency alert notification tones on a syndicated radio broadcast,” said FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre. “Certain alerts, like the one broadcast today, are designed to be automatically picked up and rebroadcasted by other radio and TV station. FEMA and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) are currently working with broadcasters to determine the full scope of the situation.”
In December 2011, an unannounced test of emergency alert system caused panic in New Jersey after some were told they had to “take shelter” as a “civil emergency” was underway.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
