False alarms highlight weaknesses in national alert system

In this Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 photo Jeremy DaRos shows the erroneous tsunami alert he received on his phone on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Portland, Maine. DeRos, who lives near the water, said he is concerned that people won’t take seriously the emergency alerts they get in an actual crisis. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

In this Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018 photo Jeremy DaRos, who received an erroneous tsunami alert on his phone, poses on the waterfront in Portland, Maine. “People need to trust the alerts they’re pushing out,” he said. “This is important stuff, and to have two incidents in the span of a month is just unacceptable.” (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Weather junkie John Grosso knew it was highly unlikely a monster wave was barreling toward the Connecticut coast. Still, when a tsunami warning appeared out of the blue on his phone Tuesday, he felt a twinge of fear. His co-workers, who got the same alert, asked whether they should evacuate.

0 Comments