Los Angeles County has made the decision to temporarily transition to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services alert system for all local emergency notifications. This move comes after a malfunction in the county's system led to the accidental notification of nearly 10 million residents.
According to a news release issued by LA County Emergency Management on Friday evening, the erroneous alert was sent out around 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The preliminary investigation revealed that the alert was accurate and correctly targeted, but it was mistakenly distributed to a much larger audience than intended.
The vendor responsible for operating the software used for the county's emergency alert messaging is actively involved in the review process. The county has confirmed that additional safeguards have been implemented in the software to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
In response to the incident, the vendor stated that they are collaborating with the county to investigate the root cause of the malfunction. They emphasized that their application continues to be a vital tool for emergency personnel in mapping evacuation zones and facilitating evacuation decisions.
Furthermore, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have joined forces with the county to assist in the investigation. Their expertise and resources will contribute to a comprehensive analysis of the incident and help identify measures to enhance the county's emergency notification system.
