Residents of Los Angeles County got quite the shock when they unintentionally saw an emergency evacuation alert on their TVs.
At roughly 5 p.m. on Wednesday, an evacuation order was issued for the Eastern North Pacific Ocean, Guadalupe Island, Los Angeles, and Ventura County.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office subsequently said the warning was “issued in mistake by the County of Los Angeles.” However, a little over an hour after it was posted, officials removed it.
According to the Sheriff’s Office’s tweet, Ventura County is not currently under danger, thus there is no need for people to leave.
However, it didn’t stop locals from freaking out over the “dangerous” scenario, and many turned to social media to learn if the evacuation – which didn’t have a reason listed and wasn’t mentioned on the news – was indeed happening.
Kay Richard wrote on Twitter:’ Uhh, did anyone in LA get an evacuation notice??? Kinda s**ting my pants [right now].’
An evacuation order for Eastern North Pacific Ocean, Guadalupe Island, Los Angeles, and Ventura County was issued at around 5pm on Wednesday after a ‘non-emergency’ message that was ‘properly formatted’ somehow triggered an evacuation notice
The notification was “issued in mistake by the County of Los Angeles,” the Ventura County Sheriff remarked on Twitter, adding that Ventura County was not in danger.
‘That was scary!,’ one Twitter user wrote. ‘I called the Sheriff’s Office to see what was going on. LA better get it together.’
One social media user claimed she received the alert at 5.08pm and the error message didn’t come in until 6.18pm.
‘It took [over an hour] to tweet that it was an error! WTF guys.’
Others joked it was a flashback to 2018 when Hawaii sent the entire state an emergency notice that ballistic missiles were ‘inbound to Hawaii.’
‘Did Hawaii Governor Ige send it?’ Twitter user Charles George joked.
Many said the situation ‘scared’ them and it took over an hour before they received an error message
A false warning regarding ballistic missiles entering the state was sent to Hawaiians in 2018.
At the time, the Hawaiian governor expressed regret for the fear it had created, and it was subsequently discovered that a Civil Defense staffer had unintentionally “pushed the wrong buttons.”
According to the LA County Office of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Los Angeles sent the Wednesday alert as a “non-weather emergency notification” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator (NOAA).
The notification was “fully constructed,” according to the Emergency Management Office, and shouldn’t have “initiated an EAS evacuation.”
The ‘root cause’ of the problem hasn’t yet been identified.
The Emergency Management Office has been approached by DailyMail.com for comment.
The current Route Fire, which has scorched 5,000 acres near Castaic, California, in LA County, and brought on triple-digit temperatures, is said to be related to the warning.
The Paradise Ranch Estates Mobile Park has been ordered to evacuate, and residents are instructed to go north toward Gorman from Paradise Estates and any other buildings south of Templin Highway along Upper Ridge Route Road.
The alert was reportedly connected to the ongoing Route Fire (pictured), which has ripped across 5,000 acres in Castaic, California – located in LA County – bringing in triple-digit temperatures.
‘Wearing heavy firefighting gear, carrying packs, dragging hose, swinging tools, the folks out there are just taking a beating,’ he said.