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For Immediate Release:
January 10, 2025
Los Angeles County Moves to Immediately Address Emergency Alert Problems and Implement Solutions
Los Angeles County shares our residents’ anger and frustration about erroneous emergency alerts.
As we continue our in-depth investigation of this serious breach of public trust, we have taken immediate actions:
With the agreement and support of the state CalOES director, we are switching all local emergency notifications to the CalOES alert system until we have assurances that this problem will not be repeated.
Our preliminary investigation indicates that an accurate, correctly-targeted alert went out from LA County’s Emergency Operations Center at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 9. However, after it left the EOC, the alert was erroneously sent out to nearly 10 million residents across the County. Genasys, a vendor that operates the software for the County’s emergency alert messaging, is part of our review and is conducting testing to determine how the original notification was sent far outside the intended geographic area. The company said Friday it has added safeguards to its software.
Meanwhile, at the County’s request, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission have joined forces with us to prioritize investigating and finding solutions to how “echoes” of the original erroneous alert continued to land on phones across LA County, alarming residents already facing the horrifying effects of destructive wildfires that are still burning.
Our preliminary assessment is that these recurring erroneous notifications are due to issues with telecommunications systems, likely due to the fires’ impacts on cellular towers. We are working actively with FEMA and industry partners to identify and resolve these issues.
As we work through these serious issues and develop solutions, we want to emphasize that Wireless Emergency Alerts are just one part of the County’s multifaceted emergency notification system.
If they have not already done so, we urge all residents to sign up immediately for Alert LA County notifications, which enable residents to receive notifications via landline, text or email. This system has the advantage of reaching people in the communications method they prefer, regardless of internet access.
People can sign up at https://ready.lacounty.gov/emergency-notifications/
In addition, we will be ramping up 211 services to assist residents who call in and are seeking needed information to address impacts from the fires.
Also, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies are actively providing the boots on the ground notifications to reach residents who need to immediately evacuate in real time.
Details of these and other measures will be provided as soon as they become available, along with information about the root cause of this dangerously unacceptable breakdown in the system.
We thank our residents for their patience and want to assure the public that we are working around the clock to resolve the issue and reestablish public confidence that information they receive from us during this unprecedented emergency is accurate.
Contact:
Los Angeles County Emergency Operations Center
communications@ceooem.lacounty.gov
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