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False Tsunami Warning Sent To the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean (nbcnews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the oh,-no-not-that-one dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Some residents along the East Coast received a false tsunami warning on Tuesday morning after a private company sent out an alert following a monthly test by the National Weather Service. A tweet from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Charleston, South Carolina, said the alert was sent around 8:30 a.m. ET. "We have been notified that some users received this test message as an actual Tsunami Warning," the NWS tweeted, adding that a tsunami warning was "not in effect." In a statement to NBC News, the NWS said that a routine test was sent out and that the agency is investigating why it was communicated as an actual tsunami.

21 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. time for new hardware text-to-speech system by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    time for new hardware when your old text-to-speech system is played over old analog lines it sounds like shit.

    1. Re:time for new hardware text-to-speech system by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Does every one of these emergency agencies have a bunch of Homer Simpsons manning the control panels? Sheesh.

      Either that, or hackers are really sending these messages and the "oops we pressed the wrong button" crap is just a cover up... ... ooooh a new conspiracy theory.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:time for new hardware text-to-speech system by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      vent radioactive gas y/n?

    3. Re:time for new hardware text-to-speech system by slipped_bit · · Score: 1

      "Venting prevents ex-plo-si-on."

  2. False? by easyTree · · Score: 1

    Or someone forgot to press the giant button on the star-wars-program tsunami-generator ?

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  3. Wolf! Wolf! Wolf! by sehlat · · Score: 1

    Ignore it, they keep screwing up. (glub)

  4. Fired Hawaii EMA technician got a new job by bigmacx · · Score: 4, Funny

    The NWS must not have checked his references. At least they are consistent about the ~30 minute later "Oopsy, we made a bad"

  5. Better than false nukes by OffTheLip · · Score: 1

    Still does not inspire confidence in these critical systems.

  6. Obligatory xkcd quote: by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 1

    TornadoGuard!

  7. Fraud! We've been cheated! by Hartree · · Score: 1

    Dammit, if I get a tsunami warning, I better get my tsunami!

    Who do I complain to about this?!

  8. MY phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I don't want your Amber Alerts, Traffic Alerts, Missile Alerts, Tsunami alert or any other kind of message unless I specifically asked for it directly.

    When our carrier or government just starts sending stuff to us, it's like my computer just deciding to go to a web page because somebody else wants me to go look at something. it's not acceptable.

    My phone belongs to me and any signal sent to me that is not welcomed will be viewed as an electronic attack and a measured response will be in order.

    1. Re:MY phone by adolf · · Score: 1, Funny

      My phone belongs to me and any signal sent to me that is not welcomed will be viewed as an electronic attack and a measured response will be in order.

      This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

      https://www.law.cornell.edu/cf...

      HTH. HAND. GTFOML.

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
  9. Because some people didn't understand J/K by mysidia · · Score: 1

    "Tsunami warning everybody.. J/K"

    Some people didn't realize that J/K means for realsies.

  10. Accuweather by supernova87a · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why would Accuweather (the company who sent this) want the liability and burden of being responsible for (or even touching anything to do with) sending a life-or-death tsunami warning? Would you, as a company say "ok, the National Weather Service sends these things out, let's let them handle this the whole way"? Why would you think it good to take on that role?

  11. How to perform a test by holophrastic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Step one: disconnect the outside from the inside. Big toggle switch on the wall, itty bitty network jack gets torn out. We call this: network isolation. You can easily build this into your testing software. If google.com is reachable, don't send tests.

    Step two: announce it in-advance. Tomorrow, at noon, precisely sixteen hours from now, we'll be running a test. It'll say "missile carried by tsunami". There will only be one test. It will specifically not say "seriously really". We call this: planning ahead. Again, you can easily build this into your testing software. If there's no record of an announcement, don't send tests.

    Step three: non-accidental confirmation. Tests can be sent with the push of a button. Real-world warnings require a human being to type the words "send real warning to EVERYONE". It's not case-sensitive, and three type-o's are permitted. Again again, you can easily build this into your testing software. "Click OK" is replaced by "type this phrase" -- and specifically not for tests.

    Step four: two heads are better than one. Tests can be sent by one human. Real-world warnings require a second human to do the same things as the first human, within the same few minutes. Again, easily built into your software. A single command is ignored, two commands are executed.

    Two in four weeks is not only intolerable, but it's actually more painful than the actual events would have been. I don't know how many death-bed confessions occurred in hawaii, and I can't imagine the health results of that kind of stress on an entire population. But I do know one thing very well: notification fatigue completely destroys the future. How many Hawaiians will simply ignore it next time, and die as a result?

    1. Re:How to perform a test by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      Sure, but...

      I'm going to argue that these systems aren't notification systems. They are specifically systems for NOT notifying people erroneously. Otherwise, we don't need to run any tests ever. When someone says "push the button", you push the button. Training over.

      Second, you can unplug that network port in the other building. That would actually cover the second human also.

      You can't say that testing is required, and that testing shouldn't notify the real world, and that testing shouldn't be any different than non-testing. As usual, you get to pick any two.

      Quite frankly, I'm really happy with step two as the single solution. Don't have any testing systems at all. Just say: "tomorrow, we're going to push the button for fun", and let everyone get the test -- cradle-to-grave testing, as it were.

      But if tests aren't going to test the complete system (right down to the public receiving the message), then your test system needs to be different than your real system, probably in many ways.

      Now, if you don't know how to program a javascript validation in my "type this phrase" in a way that's both testable and reliable, then you need to hire better programmers. I can certainly screw up a good javascript function on the first pass, but we're not launching rockets here. We're comparing strings. I'll get it right within an hour, if not a minute.

  12. That Was Quick by tsqr · · Score: 1

    I didn't know that the guy from Hawaii found another job so fast.

  13. Re: Goverment incomeptence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is not government incompetence. The NWS properly issued a test. AccuWeather, a private company based on Pennsylvania, incorrectly relayed the test as an actual warning.

    Occasionally, members of Congress will propose privatizing more aspects of the National Weather Service. These members of Congress tend to be from Pennsylvania, where AccuWeather is located. You're directing your criticism in absolutely the wrong place.

    I'll gladly criticize the NWS when it's warranted. It's not warranted here. The NWS did nothing wrong.

  14. The least the could do ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... for a system test is to sent a Zombie Alert. People who take it seriously can just stay in their backyard bomb shelters. Good riddance. We won't be sending the 'All Clear'.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:The least the could do ... by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      oh noes they'll be shooting at people who walk funny and grunt, Tom Hardy would be a goner.

  15. Form of terrorism. 'nuff said. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If this is not just the result of news agencies now looking for such events, but actually a new thing, that there are suddenly so many cases of this "accidentially" happening, it becomes more and more likely, that this is not an accident at all.

    Fearmongering is one of the biggest staples of the ruling class, to keep the livestock in check.
    This is just too convenient and too much of a coincidence.

    Let's see if there will be more of those, and things similar to them ...