100:
The most common reasons given by people for not following the evacuation orders were because no specific threat was described in the broadcast, because no specific area was mentioned other than "the entire state of
Connecticut", and because there was no observable activity indicative of an emergency.
96:
A study conducted after the activation discovered that 11 percent of the state's residents had received the warning while it was being broadcast. Of those persons, 63 percent reported they were "a little or not at all concerned" when receiving it. The most common reaction reported by residents was to
92:
reported they received no calls from the public inquiring as to its authenticity or the circumstances that would require the evacuation of
Connecticut. Though some local police reportedly received calls from members of the public, the message "failed to set off a noticeable exodus into Massachusetts,
63:
At 2:10 p.m. on
Tuesday, February 1, 2005, a state-level activation of the EAS occurred in Connecticut. A scheduled, unannounced test of the system had been planned for that day. However, the system instead informed television and radio stations that an evacuation of the state was underway. Both
42:
that allows designated government authorities to suspend and preempt terrestrial radio and television broadcasts when needed to issue urgent public safety alerts. The highest priority alert that can be issued is an
Emergency Action Notification (EAN), sometimes called a "presidential alert". An EAN
76:
for the misactivation, though an employee of the state's Office of
Emergency Management later said they had accidentally registered the incorrect code prior to what should have been an EAS test, prompting the broadcast of the evacuation notification instead of the test message.
29:
calling for the immediate evacuation of the entire state. The activation was in error. Later studies showed that residents did not evacuate, and that the most common response was to 'change the channel' or seek other confirmation.
97:
seek confirmation of the emergency by changing channels; other common reactions were looking outside or consulting neighbors, and only one percent of persons surveyed who heard the broadcast actually attempted to flee
Connecticut.
68:
issued statements shortly after the broadcast confirming the activation had been in error and there was no evacuation underway, though clarifications were not issued until more than an hour after the transmission.
80:
According to media reports, the message broadcast began, "civil authorities have issued an immediate evacuation order for all of
Connecticut, beginning at 2:10 p.m. and ending at 3:10 p.m".
47:, or another federal official. An Emergency Action Notification has never been used for an actual event. However, local and state-level activations of the EAS routinely occur for emergencies such as
205:
357:
352:
289:
43:
sets into motion a series of events that causes all of the United States' television and radio stations to become networked together to simulcast the
347:
115:
332:
342:
110:
44:
302:
337:
297:
258:
89:
22:
195:
163:
134:
200:
326:
39:
26:
290:"Public Reaction to the Erroneous Statewide Broadcast of February 1st, 2005"
65:
235:
230:
48:
73:
38:
The
Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a public warning system in the
52:
88:
Despite the critical nature of the message, officials from the
263:
64:
the
Connecticut Office of Emergency Management and Governor
301:. Center for Survey Research and Analysis. Archived from
55:
system outages, and other, localized, exigent events.
16:
135:"Emergency Alert System (EAS) Plan for Connecticut"
259:"False alarm in Connecticut evacuation order"
8:
358:Disaster preparedness in the United States
353:February 2005 events in the United States
189:
187:
185:
164:"September 28, 2016 Nationwide EAS Test"
284:
282:
126:
231:"Evacuate! Evacuate! Oh ... nevermind"
208:from the original on February 15, 2017
144:. Connecticut Broadcasters Association
225:
223:
196:"Connecticut Evacuation: False Alarm"
7:
194:Pazinokas, Mark (February 2, 2005).
116:2020 Ontario nuclear incident alert
14:
168:Federal Communications Commission
111:2018 Hawaii false missile alert
45:President of the United States
1:
25:was activated in portions of
298:George Washington University
348:United States civil defense
93:Rhode Island or New York".
72:Officials initially blamed
374:
333:2005 in American politics
21:On February 1, 2005, the
90:Connecticut State Police
343:Emergency Alert System
23:Emergency Alert System
338:2005 in Connecticut
267:. February 2, 2005
239:. February 1, 2005
365:
318:
317:
315:
313:
308:on June 14, 2010
307:
294:
286:
277:
276:
274:
272:
255:
249:
248:
246:
244:
227:
218:
217:
215:
213:
201:Hartford Courant
191:
180:
179:
177:
175:
170:. April 21, 2017
160:
154:
153:
151:
149:
139:
131:
373:
372:
368:
367:
366:
364:
363:
362:
323:
322:
321:
311:
309:
305:
292:
288:
287:
280:
270:
268:
257:
256:
252:
242:
240:
229:
228:
221:
211:
209:
193:
192:
183:
173:
171:
162:
161:
157:
147:
145:
137:
133:
132:
128:
124:
107:
86:
61:
36:
17:
12:
11:
5:
371:
369:
361:
360:
355:
350:
345:
340:
335:
325:
324:
320:
319:
278:
250:
219:
181:
155:
125:
123:
120:
119:
118:
113:
106:
103:
85:
82:
60:
57:
35:
32:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
370:
359:
356:
354:
351:
349:
346:
344:
341:
339:
336:
334:
331:
330:
328:
304:
300:
299:
291:
285:
283:
279:
266:
265:
260:
254:
251:
238:
237:
232:
226:
224:
220:
207:
203:
202:
197:
190:
188:
186:
182:
169:
165:
159:
156:
143:
136:
130:
127:
121:
117:
114:
112:
109:
108:
104:
102:
98:
94:
91:
83:
81:
78:
75:
70:
67:
58:
56:
54:
50:
46:
41:
40:United States
33:
31:
28:
24:
19:
312:February 15,
310:. Retrieved
303:the original
296:
271:February 15,
269:. Retrieved
262:
253:
243:February 15,
241:. Retrieved
234:
212:February 15,
210:. Retrieved
199:
172:. Retrieved
167:
158:
148:February 15,
146:. Retrieved
141:
129:
99:
95:
87:
79:
71:
62:
37:
20:
18:
174:January 14,
27:Connecticut
327:Categories
122:References
34:Background
66:Jodi Rell
49:tornadoes
236:NBC News
206:Archived
105:See also
84:Reaction
59:Incident
74:hackers
306:(PDF)
293:(PDF)
138:(PDF)
314:2017
273:2017
245:2017
214:2017
176:2018
150:2017
142:CTBA
264:UPI
53:911
329::
295:.
281:^
261:.
233:.
222:^
204:.
198:.
184:^
166:.
140:.
51:,
316:.
275:.
247:.
216:.
178:.
152:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.